Bird Cloth
by Koplak from the Equator
Summary: Nagayoshi: A very androgynous orphan girl with apple addiction and specializes in lightning-based jutsu. Kakuzu: A masked violent S-ranked criminal with money addiction and emotional problems. These two people meet and call themselves siblings. They change each other and others around them. They live, they learn, they grow. WARNING: violence, suggestive themes.
1. In the Dark of the Night

**Bird Cloth**

**Prologue: In the Dark of a Night**

There were three speculations:

1) Thor was feeling simply furious,

2) Thor was playing 'Hit-the-Mole' with Loki force-transformed into a mole with large set of buckteeth and a sickening squeaky noise,

3) Thor was learning the Indian rain dance with minimal success which then resulted today's horrible weather: rainstorm with fifteen minutes of ice drops, train-speed wind, and finally, cacophonous thunders and blindingly radiant lightning.

Little did the Nordic god knows, other than the farmers, there was someone else who protested his actions up in the heavens; probably loathed the third speculation the most for its whole being was now wet and its health was threatened greatly. And this individual was no larger than an adult's full-length arm.

An infant.

Whoever saw this infant (which is no one in the mean time, unfortunately) must have sworn and correctly guessed that this infant was born just a few weeks ago for its skin was still very delicate and its skull was still very prone to death-fetching occurrences. The baby wailed, begged for the rain to stop. The baby had just arrived, why must it sacrifice its life so soon? What harm and sin had this unblemished creature caused? Were the gods granted its life on the wrong date? Was this infant supposed to be born sixty years ago?

The roll of thunder was too loud in comparison to the baby's desperate wailing despite that it was getting louder and louder. The poor creature was starving. Who knows how long had the baby been abandoned by its parents? … Its parents! Right! Where on bloody hell are they?! Aren't babies supposed to be a blessing?

Wonderful. For a mortal so young, this baby had already had a hate list. Exception for the gods—she couldn't have sworn to the gods. She was trying to _live_, goddammit. If she swears, her life can be numbered with your own fingers.

The crying ceased as the baby's delicate skin finally got a rest from defending the brain against raining ice blocks. Warmth helloed the rest of its body and it shivered with both delight and cold. Wind swiped against its already hairy head but, much to its surprise, was not coming from the storm but it was because it was moving really fast. Huh…the baby can't move, then how…?

More warmth welcomed the baby's fragile pores. The baby whimpered and was about to cry again, because its starvation wasn't yet satisfied. Its world suddenly rocked gently and soothing 'ssh' sound penetrated its developing ears. A person found it—finally! Now the baby can have its love list!

Warm liquid seeped to its tiny mouth. Since the baby had never tasted mother's milk before, the taste of warm water was enough for the infant. After feeling like drinking a liter, the baby drifted to a peaceful sleep, knowing that its existence was now protected and safe. It squirmed when the cloth that wrapped its small body was taken off and cold air kissed all parts of its naked body. The baby sighed contently when dry cloth replaced the wet one and peaceful sleep came once again.

**|-oOo-|**

Akira smiled softly at the baby girl she found near a river when she walked back from the market place. Her heart sank when she saw the baby left unprotected against a heavy rainstorm with ice blocks dropping mercilessly at her very delicate skin. From the looks of it, the baby was no older than two months. Her fists curled; who could be so heartless to leave this sweet and innocent new mortal in the midst of raging nature? Those people are crazy!

The fists uncurled in a snap when her twin brother returned. He, too, was wet thanks to the rain. It was a good thing that they lived in this secluded cave. Being orphans, living in a village with no incomes was an impossible task. Not to mention that no adults accepted eleven year-olds like them to work. Just because they were short and incapable of lifting heavy weights, doesn't mean they were totally useless. For now, they thrive by pick-pocketing.

Akira and her brother, Hitsuji, weren't the only orphans who lived by stealing. In other caves on various spots outside the village, there were their fellow thief friends. They were also kids, orphaned thanks to the war between ninjas that kept clashing near their lives.

"Hitsuji, Hitsuji! Look what I found!" Akira eagerly pulled her brother's arm to the inside of the cave they lived in for the last two years. She, however, kept her voice down so as not to wake the baby girl up.

"Settle down, Akira! I'm tired!" Hitsuji protested, yanking his arm back from his twin sister. He gasped when he finally saw what his sister brought home. Instead of food like he was hoping for, it was a baby. He crossed his arms, "Akira, what's the meaning of this? I thought you brought food!"

"I did! But then I found her! She was alone and wet, abandoned so close to the river. She might've drowned to the river, you know!" Akira explained, eyes watery sentimentally upon imagining the baby's demise should she failed to bring her back.

"Okay, that wasn't a good fortune. But…come on! We can't even feed ourselves! With this baby around, we have to take more food, more water and…diapers!"

"Please, Brother! She's still a baby! I can't stand looking at a baby die! And…she's an orphan too, like us! Can't you understand? We're still lucky to know our parents!" Akira continued begging. She grabbed her brother's hand to make the pleading more convincing.

The last part of Akira's speech caught Hitsuji's heart. Being an orphan wasn't a good experience. Of course, no nosy adults telling you what to do and what not. But at the same time, no one gave them the wise advice and the caress of affection and love which every children needed in order to survive. Huffing, Hitsuji replied, "Oh well…I can't be a hypocrite too, now, can I?"

"Yay!" Akira cheered. In addition, she hugged and kissed her brother's cheek, much to his disgust. "Now, only we need to do is to name her!"

"Her?" Hitsuji raised an eyebrow, "When did you find out that the baby's a girl?"

"When I changed her clothes. She has no…you know…your _things_." Akira pointed at the particular 'thing' she implied in her speech.

Hitsuji's blood rose to the face, making him resemble a ripe tomato. "I get it already…" he hissed in embarrassment. "What are you going to name her then?"

"Um…I honestly have no idea. All the girl names I know are either too girly or just plain ugly. I want her name to be unique. Unlike my name…" Akira puckered her lips as she continued to think of a perfect name.

Hitsuji turned out to be the first with an idea, "Shin?" he suggested.

"I thought of that, but nah! It's too short and it brings bad memories." Akira disagreed. The siblings wore their thinking caps again. This time, Akira had an idea, "How about Tatsu?"

"Too simple. I like the name to be a bit elaborate." Hitsuji and Akira scrunched their foreheads again. The boy found the idea again, "I know! How about Nagayoshi? I had been keeping this name in my brain for some time now. In short, we can call her 'Naga'."

Akira clasped her hands in awe, "Wow, Hitsuji! You sure are thoughtful! Her name means 'good omen of happiness'?"

"Uh, actually it's 'Bird cloth'._**[1]**_" Hitsuji's answer swallowed Akira's shimmery eyes to the dark void of disappointment.

"Bird cloth? It's that some kind of divine fabric or what?" Akira put her hands on her hips, glaring at her brother who was laughing hesitantly.

"Anyway, it's unique, right? Her name would be written in Katakana, actually. It would be easier for everybody."

"In that case, I don't mind." Akira stared compassionately at the baby now named Nagayoshi. She smiled softly and caressed the baby's smooth skin with the back of her fingers. "Naga-chan…"

* * *

**Hurrah! I am back with a new story! Now leave your comments/reviews/criticism (NOT FLAMES) in the review bar. Anonymous are welcome! **

**Oh, and can you people check out my update (and rant) corner in my profile? I have a big announcement and sort of promotion. Thx! :D**

**[1] Akira thought Nagayoshi would be spelled ****祥祥 ****but instead, it was written ****酉布****. But in the end, Nagayoshi's name would be spelled so in Japanese (should she appear in the manga): ****ナガヨシ**


	2. Lightning Doesn't Strike the Same Place

**Chapter 1: Lightning Doesn't Strike the Same Place Twice**

Red.

And two green orbs were swimming in it.

It created an ominous look when the owner of the eyes was burning with highly flammable fury. She knew she shouldn't have taken this guy's wallet. Damn desperation…but it was mostly her fault too. She didn't ask to be a thief; she was raised that way by her Niichan and Neechan who were orphans thriving by stealing food from the market place or pick-pocket someone's wallet.

Nagayoshi cursed herself for not stealing a food straightaway. She felt absolutely and superbly idiotic. She should've followed her instincts—and weren't apples her favorite?

At this point, the six year-old child blamed her depression over the loss she suffered two weeks ago for causing her instinct bluntness. Her memories racked to that point at this moment of crisis…

**|-oOo-|**

Never had in her life did she witness so much blood; the arms that used to pat her head with pride and love were now detached completely. She survived from this punishment, thanks to her brother and sister, Akira and Hitsuji. They told her to run while the villagers chased them for stealing their groceries all this time. While Nagayoshi succeeded to flee without any villagers tailing her, her adoptive siblings didn't share the same fate. They got caught and when a thief was caught, punishment ensued.

The punishment was not imprisonment either.

Being a rather semi-primitive village it was, the policy was when a thief was caught, they will lose their hands—length depends on how many times they have stolen people's properties. Unfortunately, since Akira and Hitsuji have stolen ever since they were nine, they lost their entire arms. And as if losing their entire limb wasn't unfortunate enough, they were left rotten to death on the execution field, letting crows plucking at their flesh mercilessly.

Nagayoshi's legs buckled and the bloody pool of her dear family soaked her lower legs and feet as she mourned over them. Nobody cared with her outburst of emotion; they just avoided the scarlet mess and continue with their life.

Fear began to overwhelm the six year-old. She didn't know _what_ to do or _who_ to turn to. Everybody in the village hated her with no exception for she was a thief too. She didn't want to end like them but stealing was the only thing she knew—other than talking. Hence, she continued her life that way.

She was blessed with speed but not stealth. Her being stealthily successful was only at most 10%. She hated herself for being noisy. At least she could run like a cheetah; that had saved her life many times.

Her running, however, was put to a test two weeks later, or to be precise, ten minutes before where she was now.

She saw a tall man walked out from the village's gambling station. Nagayoshi wasn't really interested with him until she noticed the man's purse showing up very slightly from his cloak's pocket. She stepped forward but halted at one step. She contemplated…she felt this dangerous sensation coming from him. He might be worse from those death punishments fallen upon her adoptive siblings.

She winced. _Feed me! FEED ME!_ Her stomach haunted her brain with its crow-like voice. She gritted her teeth and continued her plan: to steal the man's purse.

The man walked very casually, almost like viewing the busy scene in the market place. That or he was happy that he had won a lot of bucks back in the gambling station. Probably, that was what was inside his briefcase. More printed spinaches. What a lucky bastard…

She picked up her pace; barefooted, she made a very faint sound with her feet, unlike the man's heavier and louder footsteps. She extended her arm when she was close enough to touch the man's purse. She licked her upper lip in eager; it was so close…

_Ah, man!_ Her mind screeched when her arm accidentally hit the man's waist. It was not unnoticeable, for the man turned around just right after she hastily snatched the purse. Without taking a moment to stare eye-to-eye dumbly at the tall man, Nagayoshi sprinted with the thick purse in her hands. Her heart exploded when she heard the man's gruff voice called her and cursed at her. Her heart immediately supplied more blood to help her save herself. She didn't stop running, evading, and jumping until black things that sort of looked like ropes caught her ankle and made her tumble.

**|-oOo-|**

Which then brought us to where we started. The bridge. She was cornered on the bridge. The only place to run was to jump from the bridge to the twenty-foot trench with no rivers whatsoever on the bottom. By doing such, Nagayoshi can claim herself as good as dead. But, remember, she refused to die. Nope; not yet, not now.

But there was this sudden suicidal urge nudging her back when the man loomed over here short figure. The man's eyes were like those of a snake and his covered head, nose, and mouth didn't help but intensify the killer look. Moreover, black sinister clouds decorated the once dull blue sky and bright lights flashed in the distance.

_I should return his purse and apologize._

_I need the money!_

_Apologize!_

_Better jump off the bridge!_

_You're crazy!_

_You're an idiot!_

"Give me back my purse!" the man roared, together with a rolling thunder and a lightning javelin. The man's arm swung dangerously at Nagayoshi and, in the act of defense, she covered her head with one arm while the other one stretched out affront.

The lightning that happened to strike just behind the girl, suddenly twisted its path, making a dragon-like contour and assaulted the tall man in black mask with a deadly one terawatt. It passed harmlessly above the girl's head and acted as a guardian angel for her.

Being a ninja, as implied by the wearing of the headband, the tanned man must move as fast as lightning itself in order to survive. Realizing that the lightning was about to attack him in milliseconds, the man made a series of pronto hand seals and before he was fried under the great, impetuous heat from the sky, his hands were mantled by the same current. His brisk, on-the-brink ninjutsu neutralized the lightning's attack and reduced its impact from a quick fry into a short-circuited buzz that still hurt nonetheless.

The man toppled backwards at the discharge of shockwave created from the impact between his lightning ninjutsu and the jutsu's elemental origin. He heaved as he pushed himself up again; he was panting and all of a sudden forgot that initially he was pursuing a six-year-old girl for stealing his precious purse. "What the hell was that?" he muttered under his breath.

Nagayoshi blinked and stared at the tumbled over tall man that was about to behead her few seconds ago with the same bewilderment as he. She looked down at the purse. She has to do what's right.

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked, handing the purse full of money to the original owner. She clamped her eyes shut as tightly as possible. She dared not to see the face of the man.

The tall man stared at the girl as if she was going insane or something else close to the matter. Uncertainly, he claimed back his purse and this time, in order to avoid future pick-pocketing, he stored it in his inside pocket. The girl, however, didn't move from her spot and was still shutting her eyes. Until…

_GRWL~!_

The tanned man twitched at the volume of the sound coming from the girl's vacuum digestion system. He was pretty sure that he could still heard it even if he was a good two feet away from the girl. It was loud beyond all reason.

Nagayoshi fell back to her rear and scooted backwards until her back met the concrete side of the bridge. She hugged her knees; eyes were in the brink of shedding tears.

_Good job, Nagayoshi! Now you're starved! I could swear that the vultures are still luckier than you!_ Her inner mind mocked her, mentally kicking her butt peevishly. Nagayoshi sighed and buried her face further.

Footsteps, and they were heavy and getting distant with every _thump_. The tall and tanned man was leaving her. She sighed again, this time in relief that the man decided to spare her life. However, at the same time, she felt depressed all over again. She settled on sitting on the spot until her mind said otherwise.

It was hardly ten minutes and Nagayoshi heard the same footsteps coming towards her again. She hissed inwardly, _I'm not going to make it out alive, after all,_ she thought pessimistically. She counted the remaining seconds of her life when a cold item brushed against her skin. The coldness she never felt before, as if whatever that touched her skin was was made of snow. Curious, she looked up, only to squeak for the man had returned, once again looming over her.

She lowered her gaze when the man stirred the longish object with a bloated tube on the bottom, and for the first time she met an object called a bottle. Tentatively, she received the object with snow white watery substance in it. The top of the bottle was holed; she knew she was supposed to consume the substance from that end. But before she could even sip, the man roughly pulled her up to her feet and dragged her to some place else. She whimpered at his rude grip and, somewhat empathetically, the grip loosened.

They arrived at a public resting bench. The man sat on the bench and curtly beckoned the girl to sit beside him. Without protest or questions, Nagayoshi obeyed him. She better off behave in front of this person this time. Now that she was not moving, she could finally swig down the chalky white liquid.

Her tongue's receptors tingled at the heavenly taste. The beverage tasted much better than she had expected. It was sweet and plain at the same time and at a right mix. Addicted, she gulped the whole bottle alone. Despite that the labeling said it was seven hundred milliliter, Nagayoshi felt like it was less than seven hundred. She realized how contenting the beverage alone without the aid of bread or fruit. She could feel her stomach bloated by the time she swallowed the last drop.

The man eyed at the girl with indifference. He noticed how her eyes expanded dramatically as soon as she tasted the drink he bought for her. Scenarios played in his head. This girl was one of those unfortunate people living in the streets. It surprised him that she alone could finish the whole bottle. Even he couldn't finish it alone; it took him three two-hour pauses to finish one bottle. The girl sighed contently before she drifted timid side glance at him from time to time. Patiently, he waited.

"Uh…thank you, Ojisan." she spoke in a low voice. Nagayoshi fiddled her fingers nervously. She didn't expect for the man who nearly killed her to feed her with…whatever that was.

The man huffed, "Don't mention it. It's just cheap milk I bought in the market."

Nagayoshi raised the bottle to her eye level, one eyebrow rising with curiosity. How can this thing be cheap?

"You never drink milk before, don't you?" the man asked.

"M-milk?" Nagayoshi asked. The man didn't answer but pointing at the bottle. "Oh, this thing. Yeah, never."

"I see."

Silence followed. Seemingly, it was like an eternity, but in reality, it was merely ten seconds.

"I'm…I'm sorry. Uh, um, for stealing your purse just now. I-I was so hungry—I-I…" Nagayoshi apologized profusely.

"Just forget about it. Though it's not like me to buy someone something, especially to someone who stole my purse." the man answered.

"Sorry—again. So, then, why help me?"

"You defend yourself quite well there, kid. I never had to use any jutsu when I'm pursuing a pick-pocket."

Nagayoshi somehow had lost her timidity and stared at the man with one eyebrow rose. "Defend? Did I…do something?"

"The lightning. Don't you remember?"

Nagayoshi shook her head.

"Seriously? You didn't realize it was your doing?"

Again, Nagayoshi shook her head.

"Then it was either me going delusional or…you have this secret hidden inside you." By the time the man said 'secret', his green eyes bore on Nagayoshi's ebony ones. He stood almost immediately after finishing his sentence, and without a word, he departed. He had no intention to help the kid any further and kept silent as he sensed her eyes watching him go. After yards and yards and almost a mile of walking, he sensed her presence still clinging behind him. He stopped. He looked back. The kid was right him.

"What on earth are you doing?" he asked sharply; his left eye in the verge of twitching severely.

"Following you, obviously." Nagayoshi answered, unfazed by his less-than-friendly attitude.

"Don't be such a smartass! Why are you tailing me anyway?" Now the man had twitched quite severely.

Nagayoshi looked sideways, skywards, and back at the man, "I have nowhere to go. So I figure I better follow you."

"Well, guess what? Don't follow me. Go home and mind your own business. I'm through with you." the man retorted coldly.

"I'm afraid to go home. I don't even think I can call it home anymore."

"And why not?"

"I'm afraid the village people will find me there and later kill me like they kill my brother and sister for stealing. I don't…want to die…" Nagayoshi dug her bare toes in the soil, tainting her toenails brown and black.

The man drew back slightly, sighed and shook his head. "Oh well…" he muttered. "I have no choice. Fine, you can follow me. But after I'm done with my business, you have to leave me alone. Do we have a deal?"

Nagayoshi nodded. The man began to pick up his pace and Nagayoshi followed him. She sped up and walked beside him, "So what are you going to do?"

"I'm a mercenary ninja. You'll see…"

Nagayoshi could feel a sheer confidence and pride coming from the man's voice and she could sense him smirking.

**|-oOo-|**

They arrived at a bar. Nagayoshi shivered slightly; she never liked the people that entered and exited that place. They always gave her this menacing glare, no matter how ugly, normal, or good looking they were. Anyway, they unnerved her. She bit her lip when the man she followed entered the bar after telling her to wait outside. She didn't need to be told twice; she would gladly stay out of that place.

Five minutes, but the man seemed like he was taking forever. Nagayoshi stumbled upon a kitten and decided to play with the animal while the man was doing his job…whatever it was. Since her attention was allured by the kitten's presence, she didn't realize that forty minutes had passed and apparently the kitten loved her company so much. She was tickling the kitten's stomach with a thin reed when a series of vociferous _crash, wallop, bam, _and _clatter_ distracted their attention completely from each other. By the time Nagayoshi turned around, the front of the bar was already heavily damaged. A good few feet ahead of the bar, the tall, tanned man splayed.

"Ah, Ojisan!" Nagayoshi shouted. She was about to rush towards the man, but another _crash_ came from the same direction. A man, around the same size as the man that gave Nagayoshi a bottle of milk, with creamy skin and auburn hair that was spiked to the left stomped out of the bar. He held a club in his hand. That made Nagayoshi speculated that he caused most of the damage. She flicked off the club-wielder man and rushed to the one with the mask.

"Stay away!" he shouted at her warningly. Nagayoshi halted and watched as the auburn-haired man clutched the masked man on the collar.

"That all you got, punk? You're a pathetic mercenary!" the auburn-haired man spat at his opponent who was struggling to get off. He shouted when the masked man swing his legs high and kicked him hard on the chin, rattling the lower row of his teeth.

"You haven't seen the fucking last of me." The masked man made a stance and created multiple hand seals, the first one started with fire. "_Katon: Kazanfunka!"_ he cried and punched the air in front of him. Magma exploded from the ground, despite that they were nowhere near a volcanic crater, and flushed the auburn-haired man.

The man with the club smirked smugly and he as well made a series of hand seals, him starting with water. _"Mizu Hogojo!"_ he shouted, his smirk still crossing his face. Bubbles formed around him, creating a protective shield resembling some kind of asylum. As a result of which, he was unharmed by the magma attack.

The masked man murmured curses under his breath, "Dammit. Leader never said about him being a ninja." The masked man began to make a counter attack against his opponent. Seeing that he controlled water, he can be beaten by using a lightning attack. The masked man could do that just fine; otherwise, he wouldn't have been alive when that lightning suddenly bent its way at him. But before he could complete his seal, his opponent had jabbed him square on the chest with his club. The masked man keeled over and stumbled on the debris.

"You're too slow! Even I can move faster with this club in my hands! Ha! I guess you're losing your touch." the auburn-haired man mocked him around as his foot stomped on the lower back of the masked man.

"Oh, shut the fuck up! I had to restrain myself, you nincompoop!" he retorted bitterly.

"Well, don't! I don't like fighting against a wuss!" he chortled disdainfully. The man below his feet was about to lose his temper but he cancelled the temptation and the club wielder's laugh also got stuck on the middle when a pair of small hands tried to pull his arm away. "What the hell?!"

"Kid, what are you doing?!" the masked man scolded at Nagayoshi. The girl seemed to ignore him.

"Get away from me!" he flung his arm and Nagayoshi landed abrasively on the fractured brick road. She found herself in a slightly different case of déjà vu where a scary, tall man was about to beat the living daylight out of her. She could've just run away, if he didn't hold her leg down. "You're just a street rat! Get lost!" The club was in the air, ready to smash Nagayoshi's head into pieces of repulsive meat and flesh.

She was pretty sure this time her life will end. But this time she wanted to see it; who knows, maybe she could see what the masked man meant when they talked earlier. The club swung—and no dark clouds whatsoever gathering and zap the man into fried prawn in an instant. Okay, so that was a false hope.

Water surge thrust the man away from Nagayoshi; once again, she was saved by the same person, only this time it was more dramatic. "I thought I told you to stay away!" the masked man shouted at her.

She wanted to apologize, but a soaked hand got her throat and soon she found herself almost a meter above the ground. She grunted, gasping for air to relieve her burning lungs. Her gasping became more desperate and she could feel her eyes rolling back as the man coldly tightened his grip. She needed…to…breathe…badly…. So she grabbed his wrist, wanting to beg to the man to let her go…

"YAAAAUUUGHH!!!" the man screeched when electric surged attacked his wet skin and penetrated his internals. His grip on Nagayoshi's neck unclenched immediately as his body suffered through paroxysm due to the running electric current throughout his systems which then eventually shut him down permanently.

Nagayoshi hacked and coughed. Oh, how glad she was to finally breathe clean and fresh air again. She sighed, and suddenly yelped upon seeing the dead body of the man who tried to asphyxiate her. She kicked him softly with her toes…no signs of movements.

She watched as the masked man ghost his fingers over his skin, checking if there still remained some electric charge residue. Finding none, he checked his pulse. He chuckled, "Wow, you nailed him, kid."

"What—what—how do I—huh…?" Nagayoshi stammered, loss at words.

"I don't know how you did it, but you sure have killed him." The masked man heaved the dead body and decided to drag him. "C'mon, we're getting out of here." he beckoned by tilting his neck curtly at the road ahead of them.

"Aren't I supposed to leave you alone?" Nagayoshi asked.

"Not anymore, kid. You just killed a man almost three times your size. You can't get away easily now. Anyway, I think you have the potential."

"Potential? Of what?"

"To be a ninja. There's no way a normal person can bend lightning or electrocute someone else like what you did just now. Now hurry up, kid. You don't want the authorities to find us, now do you?"

Nagayoshi nodded curtly and followed the older man. She grabbed him by his cloak, trying to stick close to him as they entered the woods. When she felt like they were absolutely safe, she looked up at him, who in return looked down to her. "Thanks again, Ojisan." she smiled. The green eyes of the older man expanded; it was the first time in their meeting did Nagayoshi smiled.

He rolled his eyes, "I have a name, you know. It's Kakuzu." he said plainly.

"Then you should stop call me 'kid'! I have a name too! My name's Nagayoshi!" Nagayoshi pointed at herself with her thumb. She blinked comically when Kakuzu raised one of his eyebrows. "What?"

"Nagayoshi? What kind of name is that?" Kakuzu asked. Deep down, he was struggling not to laugh at her name.

"I dunno. My brother gave it to me." Nagayoshi shrugged.

And that was just the beginning…

* * *

**This chapter is surprisingly easy and fun to write X3! Kakuzu's a little bit OOC here, but at least he has his reasons. I know and am sure that in every villain there's always a hero side. Just look at Zabuza or Itachi (oh, yes, especially him). Oh, and speaking of Zabuza, I kind of base Kakuzu and Nagayoshi's relationship from Zabuza and Haku.**

**I kind of think, after seeing my rough drafts, that I might later rise the rating from T to M due to violence and gore. I usually try not to write them too visually in respect to readers who sort of dislike a lot of blood but love Kakuzu and/or OC stories. Tell me what you think and if there's something I need to improve, feel free to tell me. ;D**


	3. New Day and New Clothes

**Chapter 2: New Day and New Clothes**

* * *

"I never imagine you'd have a soft spot for kids, Kakuzu!" Kisame laughed. Communicating through holograms, Kisame took the advantage to taunt the older Akatsuki member. Kakuzu, on the other hand, was trying not to go ape even in a hologram mode. He felt wrong for informing the whole organization that he had taken a child to travel with him, but alas, he had to.

The leader of the organization, the hologram with grey circular eyes, held his hand up, motioning his minions to silence themselves. "On what reason do you take this child, Kakuzu?" Pein asked, his voice distant and haunting.

"I found a good use of her." Kakuzu answered, unfazed by the power. "On the last four days, she proved to be quite useful. Although, those were accidents, she had terminated three of my targets by subconsciously triggering her uncontrolled self-defense mechanism. If I make her aware of her abilities, she can make a fine shinobi."

"Yeah, and a selfish one too." one of the members cackled.

Ignoring the mocking laughter, Pein asked Kakuzu again, "So you're going to send her to a ninja school?"

"Yes. Seeing that most of Kumogakure's people controls lightning chakra, it is best to send her to a ninja school there. I will act as his supervisor."

"Whoa, you're a father now?" asked the same jokester Akatsuki.

"I am not!" Kakuzu retorted fierily.

"Kakuzu, you're an outstanding mercenary. I can't seem to trust more flow of income from the others, since you take more bounty than you are assigned to. I don't expect this new responsibility of yours to be a letdown. You are needed by the organization." Pein said coldly. His words seemed to trigger jealousy from the other members.

"I have my solutions, sir. I assure you that I can work like normal even with this girl under my watch." Kakuzu answered confidently.

The older member and the leader stared at each other's holographic eyes before Pein's Rinnegan closed and his silhouette vanished into thin air, together with his right hand woman. Kakuzu stared at other members and scoffed before vanishing.

**|-oOo-|**

Kakuzu lowered his hand and loosened his stiff shoulders from staying in a contact mode for too long. He spread his legs out, stretching them to comfort the muscles. Sitting on top of a boulder, he looked around, searching for his young companion. He was pretty sure he had left her alone for too long and God knows where she could be by now.

Standing up, Kakuzu jumped down from the boulder. The six year-old was yet to be found. Kakuzu massaged his nose bridge, sighing exasperatedly. He inhaled and called, "Nagayoshi, where are you?"

"Up here!" a voice replied. It was distant and Kakuzu couldn't tell which exact direction it came from until leaves fell unnaturally. He looked up and found Nagayoshi up in the trees. She was currently clinging to a branch, one arm stretched out to pick an apple. "This is so cool! I found an apple tree!"

Kakuzu crossed his arms, impatiently waiting for her fingers to finally cup the apple and pulled it off its stem. But…the moment was yet to happen. "Would you hurry up!?" he complained, throwing his arms off.

"I can't reach it!" Nagayoshi retorted.

Kakuzu groaned. With swift movements and jumps, he reached the branch where Nagayoshi was clinging to. Kakuzu concentrated an amount of chakra on his feet, enabling him to stick on the branch like a lizard without have to fear of falling down. Briskly, he snatched the apple and gave it to the girl. "Here! Next time, try to find an easier one to pick. Now, come. Kumogakure's just a few miles away."

"Right!" Kakuzu jumped down from the tree and gracefully landed on the ground without cracking a bone. Nagayoshi got down slower, but for a normal person, she was actually quite fast. It was just she hasn't learn about chakra control.

Nagayoshi chomped on the apple Kakuzu earned for her. Her cheeks tinted with a soft pink as she chewed on the fruit.

**|-oOo-|**

They passed the Kumogakure front gates with no fuss, which was exactly like what Kakuzu had planned. They explored the outskirts, looking for a place to stay with low rent price. Nagayoshi picked out one or two small houses, but Kakuzu declined, saying that the price was still over his budget. That response brought a scowl to the girl's face for she thought that those houses looked small but decent enough.

They finally stumbled across a small cottage. It was so small; it only contained one room (which can be used as both living room and bedroom), one bathroom, and a kitchen. After negotiating over the rental price, Kakuzu made up his mind and decided to stay in this cottage. Living in a cave all her life, even this house looked quite grand for her.

Sure, it was small, but they had to admit, it was well taken care of and clean. The smell of bamboo giving the cottage a friendly and warm aura and with the minimal amount of furniture, the small place looked spacious. Kakuzu took off his shoes and set them aside. Nagayoshi watched the unknown custom with huge interest. She looked down to her feet, wiggling her toes. What can she take off? Her skin?

Kakuzu noticed the way she was staring at him and, particularly, his gestures. _She probably never knew the existence of manners, _he thought. Standing straight, suddenly Kakuzu said, "When people enter a house, they take their sandals and shoes off. It's to avoid making the floor dirty."

"Oh." The 'oh' was not just a plain 'oh'. It was obviously an 'oh' of understanding and catching a new experience. "Do people take off their shoes in every place?"

"I said house. That means you can keep your shoes on when you go to restaurants or other public places."

"Oh, okay. When can I have a pair of shoes?" Nagayoshi asked innocently.

The back tips of Kakuzu's eyebrows descended. He tried to keep his face straight, "After I enroll you to the ninja school—which is tomorrow." He stepped onto the wooden floor; smooth and not so squeaky. As the tanned man made his way to the main room, Nagayoshi swore she heard Kakuzu whispered, "My wallet's gonna lose weight…lots of weight…" However, the girl just shrugged it off and followed her older companion inside.

Kakuzu placed his briefcase aside, against a wall. He opened the slide door to let sunlight in. He turned around and found Nagayoshi staring at him, cluelessness scribbled all over her face. Seeing at how grimy her appearance was, Kakuzu said, "Get a bath. You look like you're made of cinder."

Nagayoshi didn't move, in exception for her left eyebrow that ascended to her hairline. Kakuzu returned her gesture with the same one. "Uh…what's a bath?"

At which point, Kakuzu was thanking the gods for having a mask on his face. He couldn't imagine the odor of this kid. Aghast by the superfluous discovery, he buried his face in his hands. "Oh God…" he sighed, releasing his face. "Then I have to wash you." He urged Nagayoshi to the bathroom; the girl still clueless and the only thing she could do was to obey.

Even the bathroom was clean. There was a wooden bathtub for a traditional home hot bath. Kakuzu was now officially impressed. For a cheap and small house, the needs in this house were pretty much complete. He saw a half-empty bottle shampoo, soap, and a dry towel.

Nagayoshi looked at the unfamiliarity; the bathroom looked unlike the other rooms. The floor was not from wood but colorful tiles.

"Now open your clothes." Kakuzu told the girl.

"Say what?!" Nagayoshi snapped. Kakuzu winced at echoing shrillness of her voice.

"That's the point of taking a bath. You _have_ to open your clothes. Bathing means you clean yourself from all dirt and pollution. And since you've never taken a bath ever since the last rainstorm, I'm pretty sure you look like a dog's dung—and smell like one too." Kakuzu explained heatedly. When Nagayoshi kept glaring daggers at him, he growled, "I'm not going to do anything to you, okay?! After this, you should be able to take a bath on your own. Now would you _please_ take off your clothes?" If it weren't because of his mask, Nagayoshi could have seen the change of skin color on his face.

Hesitantly, Nagayoshi undressed herself, handing the dirty clothes to Kakuzu and stood stiffly. In order to distract himself, Kakuzu turned on the tap and let water run down to fill the pail. He kicked a rectangular piece of wood for Nagayoshi to sit on. She sat, as he discerned by the sound made by the wood, and Kakuzu gathered the soap and the shampoo.

Once the pail was filled with water, Kakuzu rolled his sleeves, showing stitches across his arms to Nagayoshi. Almost automatically, Nagayoshi trailed her fingers on the stitches. She was distracted by water pouring on her head. It felt like a small rain cloud showered her and only for her. Her attention to Kakuzu's stitches went away along into the drainage.

"Woah, it's c-c-cold!" she stuttered and shivered. She cuddled herself to warm her freezing body. Her visions blocked by the thick layer of wet hair.

"It's gonna take a while and more money to make a hot bath. Now quit complaining." Kakuzu replied coldly and poured more water. When he felt that Nagayoshi was wet enough, he began to lather the shampoo and apply it on Nagayoshi's black arm-length hair. Just washing her hair alone took a lot of effort. Her hair was so thick; Kakuzu had to put more shampoo so it could clean her hair thoroughly. Miraculously, for never being combed or brushed for six years, he remembered that her hair remained straight during their first four-day journey and they never tangle between his fingers as he dug his way to her scalp.

From shampooing the shivering girl, he went straight to soaping. He also taught Nagayoshi how to clean herself and told her to do it herself so he need not to touch her private areas unintentionally. He offered to wash her back while Nagayoshi washed her front and bottom. Now that her body was all covered in suds and foams, Kakuzu rinsed her clean from them. Nagayoshi started to understand and as Kakuzu pour water to her head again, she combed her fingers to her hair, cleaning the shampoo residue off.

When the foams on her body were washed away, Kakuzu found that Nagayoshi's real skin was indeed tan of the sun and not dirt. She was almost as tan as he, except that her skin color was more to creamy tan than his dark tan. You could say that Kakuzu is coffee and Nagayoshi is latte.

Nagayoshi was finally clean of all grime, dust, and dirt. Kakuzu handed her the small towel and she dried herself. It seemed to him that Nagayoshi knew how to dry one's self. The older man sighed in relief. It has been decades since he last washed someone else other than himself or coins. Now he felt like needing a bath.

"Go find something to wear in this house. I'm taking a bath." Kakuzu told the girl as she tied the towel around her chest.

"Can I wash your back like you did?" she offered. A smile bore on her face; she was eager to pay him back.

"No, you don't have to. Now go." Kakuzu ushered Nagayoshi out. Once he closed the door, he sighed, "I'm not going to let her see this. Not now, at least." he murmured as he let his black and red cloak slip off from his shoulders, revealing his stitched body and four masks attached to his back.

It took less time for Kakuzu to wash himself. He put on his pants then his black, backless top. When he grabbed his headgear, a thought crossed his head. _That's right, Nagayoshi never see me without my mask or my headgear, _he thought.

There was a mirror and Kakuzu saw his own visage. As if by its own accord, Kakuzu's hand rubbed the stitches on the corners of his mouth. He frowned, forehead creased. He looked away, disgusted by his own image. He looked down to the headgear that was still in his hands. Since the fabric was white, he could clearly see the stain on the edges and various parts of the head gear. His mask looked filthy too. He shook his head; he had no choice but not wearing his mask for the rest of the day until they dry tomorrow after he washed them.

The sun had already set when he exited the bathroom. Since they had a long journey, he thought he could go to sleep early, so he had brushed his teeth. When he met again with Nagayoshi in the main room, the girl was eating yet another apple which she took while he was still contacting Akatsuki and she was fully dressed. It surprised him that she managed to find a black and white yukata of her size. At least she didn't have to go wearing indecent clothes tomorrow. She smiled and waved at him, which he didn't bother return.

"We've had a long day today. You better rest." Kakuzu said, pulling out the futon from the wardrobe. When he pulled out the futon, he found out where Nagayoshi found her yukata. Probably the last family that lived here also had a six year-old child. He unfolded the futon on the floor.

"Ah, Kakuzu-sama, you don't wear your mask! I just realize!" Nagayoshi exclaimed. Kakuzu's heart (the one that he was using as the primary source of blood) pounded hard, all of a sudden getting nervous. He looked up slowly and found that Nagayoshi looked anything but terrified. In fact, there was a smile on her face—a big one, even.

"You're not…scared…?" he asked tentatively.

Nagayoshi giggled, "Scared? Of course, I'm not. You're not scary! Actually, Kakuzu-sama look so much better without your mask." she stated, smile grew bigger with every statement.

Kakuzu felt three different emotions at the same time: dazzled, shy, and shocked. After a long time, someone actually complimented on his face. Plus, it was just a child. Usually, children would scream in terror and zipped as far away from him. However, Kakuzu was skeptical, so he asked, "What makes you say that?"

Nagayoshi's smile shrunk and she stared at him wide-eyed. Then it expanded again, "Because looks doesn't matter. I used to know a kid with only one leg and I'm good friends with her. Anyway, Kakuzu-sama isn't a bad person. You teach me new things I never knew it's there!"

This time, it was Kakuzu's eyes to expand. She really thought so? It was rather hard for Kakuzu to digest—it just sounded so…alien…. He tapped the futon, "Well, it's night already. Go to sleep or else you can't get a new pair of shoes."

Nagayoshi drew herself to the futon, lied down and draped the blanket over her smallish figure. She noticed that Kakuzu wasn't sleeping on any mattress except the tatami. "Where are you going to sleep?"

"Don't worry about me. Now sleep. You'll need the energy for tomorrow." Kakuzu laid sideways, his back facing Nagayoshi.

Nagayoshi stared at him and soon her eyes closed, not before she said, "Good night, Kakuzu-sama."

**|-oOo-|**

"Kakuzu-sama! Kakuzu-sama! Wake up!" Nagayoshi quake his body vehemently. He shrugged her off and dozed off once again. Nagayoshi puffed one side of her cheeks, thinking a way to wake him up. When an idea crossed her mind, she smirked mischievously.

_SPLASH!_

Kakuzu bolted up, shouting. His hair and face were wet and Nagayoshi was rolling on her back, laughing really hard. "HAHAHA!!! Would you look at your face! It's so funny!!" she cackled and her hands hit the tatami without caring that she might have hurt her own hand.

"What the hell did you do me?!" Kakuzu growled.

"I wake you up." Nagayoshi answered in between laughs. Kakuzu twitched in annoyance seeing that Nagayoshi seemed to enjoy herself very much. Nagayoshi wheezed and her laughing stopped with much effort. As soon as her visions were not blurred by happy tears anymore, she realized that Kakuzu was throwing death glares at her. She rubbed the back of her head and smiled, "Aw, come on, Kakuzu-sama! I was only joking!"

"It's not funny." Kakuzu replied, poison dripping from those three words he had just spoken. He wiped his face using his hands as he stood up and strode to the kitchen. When he rummaged through the cupboard for food, he only found a plastic pack of bread and marmalade jam. He scrunched his face. "Are these the only things we have?"

"That…or this!" Nagayoshi held up an apple. Kakuzu's head hung low.

"Just…how many apples did you pick from that tree yesterday?" Kakuzu asked. He needed to know. That kid's hobby of eating apples made a serious case of itchiness on one side of his brain. Not that he hated apples. They taste good for him and easy to digest in the middle of a combat.

"Er…a lot? That's the use of the bag I stole from the man you killed before we head here." Nagayoshi answered ingenuously.

Staring back at the bread, he contemplated on the small choices of gastronomy he had currently. He decided to put back the bread and jam and seized the apple from Nagayoshi's smaller hands. The girl gave him a huge grin which he flicked off.

**|-oOo-|**

Nagayoshi was told by Kakuzu to wait outside while he enrolled her to the ninja school. She found a playground and decided to play the swing there. She saw a lot of kids playing in the playground. They were all more or less of the same age as she. Her thought assumed that they were going to the ninja school too.

She gazed at the lively scene in front of her. All kids played things she hardly seen before, like the hand games or the jumping games some girls were playing. She wondered how they play that game. It seemed easy, but she wasn't sure. After all, she didn't know anybody in here. Her naïve brain said scary possibilities of the other kids' behavior.

They were so very different from the thief community in which she was raised in. While the kids in the village she came from always had money or food crossed in their mind, the kids in here seemed to be too mollified to ever think like that. She saw some girls spinning around on a spot, causing their skirts to flipped and spun gracefully and they made poses to show their splendor to their friends. Nagayoshi had to admit, those clothes they were wearing were not ugly like her old ones that were torn and holed on most parts, but she felt they were too bizarre.

She also scrutinized on the way those girls do their hair. Those with shoulder-length hairs had hair clips on the side or wear ribbons. Their bangs trimmed in many fancy ways she hardly ever seen before in her community. It was unlike her bangs, the lengths of each strands were disarrayed badly and they covered her entire forehead and a little of her eyes. The girls with longer hair had more hair accessories on them and most of them were tied. She remembered her sister, Akira, usually tied her long her hair in a loose ponytail.

Nagayoshi touched her hair, her hair which Kakuzu washed with much of his effort. They were black…pitch black. There were girls who had black hair like her, but there were also who have red, yellow, bronze, and even white. Their hair flipped around gracefully, like silk blown by a morning breeze. Her hair was thick and heavy. Only the strongest wind can flip her hair, at least a storm wind. Their hair had different flows too. Some were straight, but most had curly or wavy hair, even spiky. Nagayoshi had a huge interest on the spiky ones. She grabbed a handful of her hair again; they were downright straight. Like a helmet. And with those bangs covering her forehead, it made her look like a Pac Man ghost with body.

"Can I play with you?" asked a voice. Nagayoshi whipped her head to her right and there stood a girl. Her skin was much, much lighter than Nagayoshi's latte-colored one. Her hair was longer than hers and was brighter in color too as it was reddish-brown. She wore a long-sleeved shirt and a flare knee-length skirt.

Nagayoshi pulled up her bright smile, "Sure!"

The other girl smiled back and sat on the other swing beside Nagayoshi. They swung harmoniously. When Nagayoshi swung to the front, the girl followed right beside her and vice versa. They giggled as they accelerated the swinging. As the swing accelerated, their togetherness in swinging was ruined as the other girl swung faster than Nagayoshi.

"Are you new to the village?" the girl asked, still swinging quickly.

"Yes. I just arrived yesterday." Nagayoshi answered.

"Really?"

"What's your name?"

"I'm Akito. What's yours?"

"Nagayoshi."

"Nagayoshi?" Immediately, the girl broke the movement by extending her legs so they would scrape the small sand dune on the ground and eventually stopped her from swinging. "I never heard that kind of name before."

"Yeah, my brother gave it to me." Upon mentioning her brother, Nagayoshi was suddenly snatched back to the times where she saw the execution. Before she could remember more, she shook her head briskly.

"What is it?" Akito asked, her face showed worry.

"Nothing. I'm fine." Nagayoshi answered and smiled. "Are you going to the ninja school too?"

"Yeah, I am! I'm going to be a ninja like my daddy! And I want to be the first female Raikage in Kumogakure!" Akito raised her arms in the air, spirit and optimism radiating from both her gestures and her voice. "You know, my daddy can make a lot of Kagebunshin! Isn't that cool?"

"What's a Kagebunshin?" Nagayoshi asked. Seriously, she had no idea of what that was. Even Kakuzu never mentioned anything about that.

"You don't know?" Akito asked; Nagayoshi replied her by shaking her head. "It's a clone technique. It makes copies of our self. We will learn about it soon enough."

Nagayoshi could only nod weakly, still clueless about the Kagebunshin of which Akito was talking about. She wanted to ask more but a man's voice called the girl's name and she left Nagayoshi on the swing alone.

"Bye! See you at school!" Akito waved at her. Nagayoshi waved back and…she lingered, not knowing what to do. Then she began to think. She thought of what Kakuzu was to her. They only have known each other for almost a week now. She could say that Kakuzu was just a man who invited her to travel along with her. And again, she didn't know the short way to say it. What, should she say, "Oh, I live with the-man-who-gave-me-milk-after-a-lightning-strike-him-and-I-stole-his-purse." Nah…that sounds really stupid. The whole class would be laughing at her.

"Nagayoshi! Let's go!" Speaking (or thinking) of the devil, Kakuzu's voice called from the distant.

The girl in the yukata jogged to the masked nin's position. Kakuzu nodded curtly and they proceeded to the centre of the village where the shops are. Kakuzu's breathing shattered slightly as he sighed resentfully, knowing that after this, his wallet will lose a lot of its life. Kakuzu, who was usually stingy, selfish, and all that's not relenting, had to _spend_ his money on things that even he wouldn't stress so much about. But who was he kidding? The kid won't do ninja tricks in a goddamn yukata! Although indirectly, having an apprentice whose clothing was rather inappropriate for ninjas would still ruin his name as a shinobi.

When Nagayoshi started to utter 'ooh!', Kakuzu took a quick glance at the thing that made her so fascinated and, at most occasions, dragged her briskly away from the place, for it was not granted with a fifty percent discount. He won't even bother to visit those with forty-five percent discount. It _must _and _has _to be fifty or more. Lucky for him, Nagayoshi hasn't really used to shopping so he could save most of the money for the future needs. The only thing he hoped for was that Nagayoshi would have earned her own money by that time.

Fortune being on his side, they finally found a place where there has more than a fifty percent discount. However, he still gave a limit on how much money should he spend. Nagayoshi picked lots of clothes but she was disappointed that Kakuzu only allow her to take two. Those two which she managed to pick were a dark red t-shirt with a hood and navy blue flare shorts. Ah, that was already one set!

"Eh~? Kakuzu-sama, are these the only sandals for kids?" Nagayoshi whined, seeing that all the sandals shown to her in a grand display were of the same model. Only the size that was different, and the colors were only available in blue, black, dark grey, and dark brown—and they were unisex.

Kakuzu shrugged indifferently. "These are designed for ninjas. When you're bigger, there'll be more. Just be patient." Kakuzu picked one pair, a black one, and said, "And they're always cheap!"

"Argh! All you think of is the price!" Nagayoshi growled, crossing her arms. She yipped when Kakuzu poked her forehead rudely with one of his black-nailed fingers. "Ow!"

"Who is it again that wants a pair of shoes? You, right? So shut up and try them, look for the right size. I'll be waiting right here, counting how much money I have left." Kakuzu scolded before sitting down checking the insides of his wallet. He noticed, as he counted silently, that Nagayoshi lolled her tongue mockingly at him. When he raised his eyes to look, Nagayoshi quickly choose her shoes. "Kids…" he whispered before counting some more.

Nagayoshi pondered on which color she better be wearing. She was hoping for something bright and cheerful colored, much like her personality, but she couldn't find one. She crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side. "Geez, this is harder than I thought." Nagayoshi commented. On her far left, she heard Kakuzu groaning faintly. "Oh well…black it is…" She took a size and brought it to a seat where she could try it on. As she sat down, her back pushed someone else behind her slightly. "Oh, sorry! I didn't see you there."

"It's alright." a boy answered warmly. Again, Nagayoshi met someone of her age, only this time it was a boy. "Are you choosing new shoes too?" he asked.

It was weird, Nagayoshi thought; the boy didn't act like a normal boy would. He was so calm and collected, unlike most kids she had seen. His eyes looked like they were half-closed; his smile was small but meaningful. His skin was also lighter than Nagayoshi's and his hair contradicted hers as his was light grey, almost white.

"Yeah. But…I don't know what color to choose. I don't really like them." Nagayoshi answered, settling herself to sit beside the boy instead of backing him. Little she did know that the masked shinobi was watching at her while he was still counting his remaining money.

The boy stayed silent, reflecting over Nagayoshi's figure before he began to say, "I think black suits you."

"Really? You think so?"

With a nod and a reassuring smile, the boy helped Nagayoshi made up her decision. It was only the matter of size and after that, Kakuzu can sigh in relief. "I never see you before." said the boy afterwards, as Nagayoshi took another sandals with bigger size. "Are you new in the village?"

"Yeah, I am. I just arrived yesterday with him." Nagayoshi answered, tilting her head towards Kakuzu.

"Oh. Who is he?"

Nagayoshi paused shortly, finding the right word to use to describe Kakuzu. "He's uh…" she stammered, eyes looking elsewhere but the boy's eyes. "He's…" she began again, and this time, she had a bluff prepared behind her lips.

"I'm her brother." Kakuzu answered, rapidly interjecting Nagayoshi's upcoming answer. "We just lost our parents on our way here." he continued, pocketing his wallet after counting. He stared at the boy coldly who just returned the gaze blankly.

The boy gasped towards Nagayoshi, "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that." the boy said sympathetically.

"Nah, we're fine." Nagayoshi faked a smile. "By the way, I'm Nagayoshi!" The girl extended a hand to shake with the boy's.

With the same warm smile, the boy took her hand, "I'm Masao. Nice to meet you, Nagayoshi. I guess we'll see each other at school."

"That's great!"

"Let's move on." Kakuzu ruffled Nagayoshi's hair and walked ahead of her. Anyway, Nagayoshi had found her new shoes.

"See you at school!" the boy waved at her, and Nagayoshi waved as she followed her so-called brother.

Now that the shopping spree was done, much to Kakuzu's relief, they walked back home. Kakuzu watched the girl in front of her who was skipping merrily, his expressions unknown. What did he just say? What had crossed his mind that time? He just claimed himself as her brother. _Ha-ha…_ Kakuzu laughed sarcastically deep in his mental, _yeah, right…we're siblings that are 73 years different. What's next? My mom's a 1000 years old immortal? Give me a break._

Just when he was pondering and cursing over his hasty blurting, Nagayoshi stopped suddenly and turned around to face him, causing him to halt in his tracks. She stared at him for a good few minutes and Kakuzu waited apprehensively. "Are we really a brother and a sister now?" Nagayoshi asked. Kakuzu slapped himself mentally; just when he was trying not to think about it, she brought the topic up. At least the dark-skinned shinobi didn't have to worry about being overheard by unsuspecting people: they had arrived at their rented house.

"Listen," Kakuzu began, squatting in front of the much smaller individual, "that sibling thing is just going to be our status while we're staying in Kumogakure. I want you to cope with it. Understood?"

"No problem! As long I'm with Kakuzu-sama, I'll do anything!" Nagayoshi grinned. Kakuzu found that funny mélange of feelings again and cleared his throat just for an excuse. He stood and opened the gate to the front yard of their rented house, but Nagayoshi stopped him. "Now can call you Oniichan?"

Kakuzu turned awkwardly; he frowned at the girl who returned his frown with a big grin. "No." he answered, somewhat matter-of-factly. He entered the house, took off his shoes and set them aside on the shoe rack.

Nagayoshi imitated him. "Aw, why? Oh well…can I call you Aniki, then? It's manly!" she added.

"What have I done?" Kakuzu said to himself regretfully. He felt stupid. Not only he blurted that he was now siblings with Nagayoshi, but actually _confirmed_ that status. What could possibly go any wrong than this?

Sigh… "Fine. What about Oniisan?"

Kakuzu stayed silent as his hands fondled with the buttons of his cloak and take them off, but keeping in mind not to open it thoroughly and inadvertently exhibit his back with four masks. He stared at the girl with his green-in-red eyes. Only this time, amusement radiated from it as implied by rising eyebrows and wide opened eyes.

"Not bad."

* * *

**There's not much action in here, but this is where the real adventure begins. Okay…maybe not. It's still a long way to go. Now…more Japanese lesson!**

**Akito: is written in Japanese kanji for "white swan"  
Masao: is written in Japanese kanji for "black swan" although the original writing was 'Masaou'**

**I'm gonna use animal names (especially birds) for the minor OCs, including the villains, teachers and Kakuzu's previous partners. Even Akira and Hitsuji are "The Hare" and "The Ram" of the Chinese zodiac, respectively. Now reviews! I need to know what you think!**


	4. Year 1

**Chapter 3: Year 1**

No matter how many times she had reassured herself, the first day of school still looked intimidating. There were so many kids of her age but with attitude totally diverse from the society she grew up amongst. Unlike the people in her village where she was mostly a mere bacteria to the people's eyes (until she robbed something), here she was the grand beacon made of gold, singing melodiously operatic with lyrics saying, "Look at me!"

She didn't know and couldn't stop thinking: what had she done wrong this time? She had bathed right; she followed what Kakuzu did to her few days ago. She also had her clothing right. In fact, her clothing was all but flamboyant. It was just a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, no middle-fingering symbol (or any other inappropriate insignia) on the front or the back—just good and plain. Even her sandals looked too normal as she noticed a few dozens of kids wearing the same sandals as she. Don't even start talking about sandals when the girls that were supposed to be in the same class as she wore something that their teenaged older sisters would wear!

Or…

…was it because Nagayoshi came to the opening ceremony with a tall, well-built, very handsome, intellectual young man?

That could possibly be it. And more to her dismay, she and Kakuzu had a lot of physical similarities. They were both tanned; they both have black hair; they both have a tall body proportion. The only thing that was different was the eyes.

Indeed, Nagayoshi was taller than most of the kids. Since Nagayoshi was a girl, she would probably grow even more until it eventually slows down dramatically in her teenage years.

As for Kakuzu, he thought if he was going to attend to the opening ceremony and being Nagayoshi's supervisor, he better disguise himself as his younger self—him in his early twenties and without stitches whatsoever. When he saw himself in the bathroom, something switched on his old, rusty and dusty narcissistic self. Maybe Nagayoshi was right; he wasn't at all bad!

Mentally, he smirked as people stared at him and his newly adopted sister with amazement, disbelief or jealousy. His smirk grew when Nagayoshi looked at him once in a while uncomfortably and he would just pat her head. The patting was meant to say 'Don't worry' but Nagayoshi failed to grasp the meaning.

The prospective students were aligned in no particular order. Parents and relatives stood on other end of the school yard. Before the head of school stood in front of the new first year students, many kids looked at their relatives with eyes saying mostly of shyness. That included Nagayoshi. Kakuzu stared at her calmly and nodded reassuringly. This time, the message was successfully grasped by the girl. Trying to find another source of comfort, she looked around to see any familiar faces.

A hand waved at her. She felt like she knew whose hand that was, but since the student line was covering the face of the person, Nagayoshi had to wait until they were dismissed. Although…she felt like she had seen that hand before.

**|-oOo-|**

It was obvious that the opening ceremony was the worst thing happened to Nagayoshi so far. She knew what it feels like waiting for something to finally wrap the hell up, but she never imagined that waiting for a ceremony to finish was three times worse than waiting for authorities to get out of her stealing range. And what was worse was that she _couldn't move a single muscle._ For some reason, standing stiffly straight for too long made her want to throw up. She swore that her face had gone green at the quarter end of the ceremony.

The first thing she did after the ceremony was to squat down and took her breath. She heard footsteps and saw someone squatting beside from the corner of her eyes. Since the figure was large, she thought it would be her new adoptive brother. And she was right.

"You look sick there, kiddo." Kakuzu stated.

"Duh…" Nagayoshi replied blandly. "I'm glad this is over."

"Come on, you have to get into class. Have fun inside." Kakuzu grabbed her upper arm, helping her stand as she continued to hang her head low for she still felt sick.

"Nagayoshi-chan!" Someone called her. Nagayoshi haven't really recorded the voice to remember who the speaker was. Not until she turned to all directions and finally found a familiar face waving at her vivaciously did her huge smile returned and her arms gesticulating in the air.

"Akito-chan!" Nagayoshi hollered. She ran towards the brunette and when she was close enough, Akito slung her arms around her neck, hugging Nagayoshi tightly. Kakuzu's eyes distended; amazed that Nagayoshi already got a friendly hug on her first day of school. Moreover, he hadn't seen this girl before.

"This is so exciting! We get to be in the same class together!" Akito chirped, holding Nagayoshi's hands together. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Kakuzu standing casually, staring at the two girls. "Is that your brother?"

Nagayoshi nodded. "Yup. He's my brother! His name is Kakuzu!"

Akito released Nagayoshi's hands and bowed courteously before the tanned young man before her. "It's nice to meet you, Kakuzu-san."

Kakuzu only nodded, "Likewise."

"Let's get inside! We don't want to be late, do we?"

"Right! Bye, Niisan!!" Nagayoshi waved at Kakuzu and rushed inside the school building. She missed to see Kakuzu raising his hand lazily and waved back. The man in disguise strolled out, sighing.

He stared up at the sky. His face turned blank as he contemplated at every action he had been taking lately. He had taken Nagayoshi this far. Only _this _far, and he had this epic pessimism going in him. He wasn't too sure; Nagayoshi might have been raised in a harsh environment, but she was still very young and her perspective on the world will change gradually. She might rebel against him later and he—

Kakuzu slapped his own forehead. So what if she wants to rebel against him later? That means he'll just have to get rid of her.

Slap again. _Stupid old man. All that money you've wasted for her will go for nothing!_ Kakuzu mentally kicked himself on the rear. He shook his head slowly, telling himself to calm down and stop thinking too radically. He gazed at the blue sky again, where a raven soared in circles above him. _Let the kid live…_ he concluded and vanished in a billow of smoke.

**|-oOo-|**

"I'm home! Wow, the first day of school sure is—eh?" Nagayoshi's announcement stuck in the middle of the road. She stared blankly at the man in front of him, who was leaning against the slide door and staring at the sun.

"What?" Kakuzu asked. He had taken off his mask, but it shouldn't have freaked her out.

Nagayoshi kept staring at him with large eyes that eventually annoyed Kakuzu. He growled and stood up, "Just what the hell's your problem? Say something so I know you're human!"

"What about you? Are you human?" Nagayoshi asked pointing at the older man.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Kakuzu asked heatedly.

"You're not Kakuzu-niisan." Nagayoshi said, backing away a little.

Kakuzu's eyebrows skewed. He ran his fingers through his black hair. "Alright, this is not the real me. This is an Earth clone of me. The 'real me' is going on a mission from Akatsuki and probably will be back a week later if I don't procrastinate by taking side-bounty hunting. Don't worry. It's not like I'm any different." He explained.

"Ooh! That's cool! Can I learn how to make a bunshin too?" Nagayoshi demanded hopefully.

"No. You'll learn about it eventually. For now, you need the basics first." Kakuzu was about to walk somewhere but when his mind hit on something; he stopped and turned back to Nagayoshi. "Oh, how did you know that this is not the 'real me'?" he asked.

"Uh…I'm not sure. You just don't feel like the real Niisan."

Kakuzu glanced at his sister for a moment, eyes squinting at her, before he finally left her alone to take out a bottle of milk from a plastic bag which Kakuzu missed to see when she arrived home.

Wait a minute! A bottle of milk?!

Before Nagayoshi had the chance to open the lid, Kakuzu snatched the bottle from her hands in a speed so fast it looked like he had the control over the time and space continuum. Nagayoshi shouted in anguish at the loss of her new favorite beverage. "Give it back to me!!!" she hollered and tried to snatch it back. Unfortunately, being much smaller than Kakuzu, the man easily held off her head.

"This milk is expensive! Where on Earth did you get the money to buy this thing?" Kakuzu interrogated brusquely. If it were a police story, Kakuzu would have spotlighted Nagayoshi with a flashlight.

"Why should I tell you?" Nagayoshi pouted and crossed her arms. Kakuzu was not impressed with the answer.

Kakuzu inhaled deeply, suppressing the censored vocabularies deeply till they were completely absorbed by his vocal chords. Sure, he realized he had used the word 'hell' and 'fuck' in front of her when he was terminating his targets during their four-day journey before arriving in Kumogakure, but that wasn't meant for her—except the word 'hell' on some occasions. And it was not like he cared whether or not she is going to grow into a potty-mouth. It is to be expected from a kid who grew up with him.

"I can be curious, now, can't I?" Kakuzu finally spoke. He really wanted to squeeze the girl's head with both of his fists when she narrowed her eyes disbelievingly. As the result of restraining, his right eye twitched severely.

"The guy in the exchange counter gave me two hundred while you're not looking." Nagayoshi answered coldly. At which point Kakuzu blamed himself for not wearing his mask because he just gaped the widest in his life.

"He did what…?" Kakuzu pressed his voice on 'what' and if Nagayoshi didn't snatch back her bottle of milk and used it as a shield, her face would have been crushed by Kakuzu's bigger one.

"You heard me." she replied.

"Oh my God!" Kakuzu exclaimed, throwing his head back in terror. "You're too young to hold that much money! Give the rest to me!" he commanded sharply.

"No way! It's mine!" Nagayoshi retorted. "Get away from me!"

"Aha! I got it." Kakuzu said in satisfaction. He whistled while abandoning Nagayoshi in a flabbergasted state. She checked her pockets and, indeed, her money was gone.

"You cheater!!" she shrieked angrily. "And again, how did you—when did you?"

"I'm a ninja, remember? You gotta be at least Chuunin to outsmart me." Kakuzu stated arrogantly, equipping a smug smirk across his face. Nagayoshi's scowl deepened and she lolled her tongue at him who chuckled and flapped half of Nagayoshi's money in front of the rightful owner. "Okay, okay… I give half of it back."

"Only half?" Nagayoshi asked.

"Like I said, you're too young to have this much money. I'm taking them."

"Well, then you better teach me something." Nagayoshi held Kakuzu's red-clouded cloak, confusing the man with her slight change of color. Kakuzu waited; he noticed her feet fidgeting. She seemed pretty nervous or, according to the look in her eyes, embarrassed.

"What is it?"

"Teach me how to read." Nagayoshi croaked. She purposely made her voice as low as possible but, unfortunately, Kakuzu's ears were sharp enough to hear her mumbling.

Kakuzu couldn't help himself but cackle. His cackling caused Nagayoshi's scowl to return to her face. He ruffled her head, trying to domesticate his laughter. "Sorry, I got carried away. We can start now if you want to."

"Really? Oh yeah!" Nagayoshi cheered.

**|-oOo-|**

So for the next few weeks, after school, Kakuzu would teach Nagayoshi how to read. It was rather a simple task. Since Nagayoshi understood most of the words, all he needed to do was to instruct Nagayoshi to memorize the words. Within two weeks, Nagayoshi could already read at least most of magazines available in the bookstore (however, Kakuzu forbid her to buy anything, even children's books. Again with the money and selfish problems).

Kakuzu continuously assigned his Earth clone to take care of his sister while the 'real him' went to missions given by the criminal organization Akatsuki. He accepted less missions than usual and didn't take as many side-hunting like he used to because he had to replace his Earth clone whose chakra was limited and may run out after a certain amount of day.

One day, when the real Kakuzu got back from his mission, he saw the Earth-chakra version of himself sitting side-by-side on the rented house's terrace. It tickled him somehow, seeing how close his clone had gotten with Nagayoshi. It even sent more tickling sensation when his clone dissipated. His memories merged with the clone as if it was his real self who spent times with Nagayoshi. Those reading lessons…those times where he had to scold Nagayoshi for spending money for a carton of milk (Nagayoshi figured that if Kakuzu thought that bottled milks are expensive, then carton milks might not. Unfortunately, it was just the same.)…and of course, seeing her sleep. Being a clone, the Earth-chakra version of Kakuzu couldn't feel fatigue or hunger.

Pein granted him with a short holiday. It was just about time where he could hear and see for himself the things his clone and Nagayoshi do together. But now that Nagayoshi's reading lessons were completed, Kakuzu had nothing in particular to do. Well, except for answering Nagayoshi's questions.

"So what did you do this week?" she asked.

"Nah, the usual. The things I always do." Kakuzu answered casually.

Nagayoshi lied on her belly, staring at the green short grass on the backyard. She asked again, "Hey, Oniisan? What's Akatsuki?"

"It's just some organization I work in. No more questions about it. I'll take you to the hideout when you're bigger."

"Seriously? When?"

"I told you when you're bigger." Kakuzu repeated exasperatedly.

"I know! But when exactly?"

Kakuzu shrugged, "As soon as you have become a ninja, which is when you're about twelve. Now…what did you do at school today?"

"Nothing special. We've been studying on chakra lately. It's kind of boring. I want to do the real ninja action." Nagayoshi complained, rolling her body so she would lie down on her back. Her legs crossed and she stared at the ceiling.

"Like what?"

"Throwing shuriken and kunai, making clones, making hand seals."

"Okay, I get the idea already." Kakuzu cut her speech before she started rambling unnecessarily. "Has your class taught you about chakra control?"

"Um…yeah, but we just started. We are supposed to train our focus on gathering chakra at our feet first and then walk on a tree. The real thing should start next Monday. I can't wait for it!" Nagayoshi sat up. Kakuzu had been watching her move; she surely had problems with keeping still, but it was only because she was bored. He did notice that when she was deep in thought or in her sleep, Nagayoshi barely moved a bit.

Kakuzu stood and beckoned Nagayoshi to follow him. Nagayoshi raised an eyebrow but follow her brother nonetheless. Kakuzu grabbed his mask, wear it, then took his ninja sandals out of the shoe rack and kneel down to open the straps and fit them to his feet. Nagayoshi's confusion grew and she squatted before him.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Taking you out. Now wear your sandals."

Nagayoshi nodded and did what she was told. She saw him standing up, making a short and simple hand seal and transformed into his disguise mode. It stunned Nagayoshi to see how fast Kakuzu was when he created the hand seal. And again, it was just a normal _Henge No Jutsu_ seal. The simplest jutsu ever made. She jumped onto her feet once she had sandals firmly strapped to her feet. As Kakuzu nodded, the adoptive siblings exited their house.

He brought her to the training grounds. There were dummies with target boards on it and currently it was empty; probably due to the fact that today was Saturday and students tend to have a break with their family rather than training. But it wasn't to the dummies Kakuzu brought her to; it was to the woods behind the shooting range. The trees in that area were tall and big enough to sustain even the heaviest humans. He stopped before a particularly big tree with a trunk as fat as a panda.

"This looks good." he muttered as his tanned hands rubbed the tree. He turned to Nagayoshi who was eagerly clenching her fists in front of her. "Alright, I'm going to teach you on how to focus your chakra to your feet and walk on this tree. Like so…" Kakuzu untransformed himself and immediately proceeded to gathering a certain amount of chakra to his feet. Without an effort, he walked on the tree up to the first branch and hang upside down. "Now give it a try."

"Okay!" Nagayoshi imitated Kakuzu and gathered her chakra to her feet. From what it looked like, Nagayoshi was quite successful in gathering the enough amount of chakra to help her sustain her body to remain sticking to the tree. She carefully placed her foot on the gigantic plant. It stick to it; so far so good. She placed her other foot, thrilled already because she could feel herself levitated and—_crack!_ The tree crunched and surprised by the outcome, Nagayoshi's focus on the chakra blurred and she fell to her back. "Yow!"

"You put too much on that foot." Kakuzu told her patiently, still clinging to the tree upside down. "Measure it carefully. If the chakra is too weak, you won't stick at all. But if you put too much, the tree will be damaged and messed up with your chakra adhering."

"I never thought climbing a tree ninja style would be this hard." Nagayoshi mumbled, rubbing her head. She stood up again, gathered her chakra carefully and retried her tree-climbing attempt. She walked slowly and she was pretty successful. Kakuzu nodded at her fast improvement but still mentally criticizing her hard-on focus to her feet. Though he understood perfectly that Nagayoshi was not ready yet to get used with flowing chakra.

"Hurray!" Nagayoshi cheered when she arrived to the spot nearby Kakuzu. Her focus seemed to have relaxed a bit due to her satisfaction. It surprised Kakuzu that she still sticks to the tree despite that she was now doing her victory dance upside down.

"Humph, smug enough, aren't you? Don't you realize that you're now upside down?" Kakuzu asked her, testing whether or not she will fall down after she realized her position right now. Much to his fascination, she didn't.

Nagayoshi grinned, "I know! That's why I'm so excited! I get this faster than I thought!"

Under his mask, Kakuzu smirked. _So…my sensei was right. The chakra flow moves like the person's personality. Nagayoshi is quite open-minded, so that's why she gets used to it easily. Although…her chakra is strangely abundant when she first apply them on her feet._ Kakuzu shrugged, _Looks like she's one of those ninja who has a massive supply of chakra._

"Now that I master it, what can I do next?" Nagayoshi asked Kakuzu eagerly.

Kakuzu scoffed at her optimism. _Master it? You gotta be kidding. _"We start from the beginning." he said, small taunting slipped from his mouth.

"Huh? But I can climb already!"

"Not quite." Kakuzu let go of the chakra from his feet, letting himself freefall to the ground, freaking Nagayoshi out. In mid-air, he made a 180 degrees spin and landed harmlessly on the grass. He absolutely had astounded Nagayoshi as she clapped her hands and whooped at him. "We'll try again from down here. Now, get down." As Nagayoshi traced back his way down the tree, Kakuzu stopped her, "Ah—by jumping down like I did."

"Seriously?!"

"Yes, seriously. I'll tell you when to turn, don't you worry. Now, jump!"

Crossing her fingers, Nagayoshi dislodged her chakra and let herself freefall. She waited for Kakuzu's signal; wind swiped her face and hair as she continued to fall. She heard Kakuzu shouted, "Now!" and with a lot of effort, she turned around 180 degrees. She landed safely but her knees and legs throbbed due to the impact and she fell to her knees as soon as her feet touched the ground. She grunted as her face met the earth. The first thing she saw when the world had stopped spinning was Kakuzu's tanned and dark-blue-coated toes.

"You need to work on your landing. Your enemies won't wait for you to stand up." Kakuzu commented coldly.

"I'll work on it. Now…what is it again you want me to do?"

"The same thing. But this time, you have to put speed in it. It should be easy for you. Usually, ninjas with lightning chakra tend to run faster or he/she is basically natural with _Shunshin No Jutsu_, since lightning runs in speed of light. I want you to race against me to the top of this tree." Kakuzu pointed skywards. He smirked seeing Nagayoshi gaping so wide.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Nagayoshi snapped. But she was ignored by him and Kakuzu had already set his chakra on his feet. Quickly, Nagayoshi did the same thing.

"I'll buy you an apple if you succeed." Kakuzu bribed her. This one, he was positive he was not going to lose against her.

"Alright, if you said so!"

"Ready…set…GO!" Kakuzu zapped to the tree, running rapidly as if he was running on flat grounds. He looked back once in a while and saw that Nagayoshi had a little difficulty following him with her unstable chakra control. He did this on purpose; by forcing her to race against him despite that her chakra control was still bad, it will make her getting used to it and, therefore, controlling chakra normally would be a piece of cake. That was how Kakuzu was taught. He barely knew the basics of chakra control, but he knew how to have it done easily without overloading one's brain with useless theories.

He was, in reality, still soft on the girl. As the progress goes, he will add obstacles to slow her down and make an almost realistic combat scenario. He looked back again; proved that his theory was right. Nagayoshi was natural with speed. In fact, he was pretty sure she was born for it. However, she was still too slow for he reached the top of the tree first.

"Aaah! My apple!" Nagayoshi shrieked. Kakuzu flicked her forehead, "Ow! Stop doing that!"

"That's your punishment. You're still too slow. It's unbelievable, especially that you were raised as a thief whose number one ability is to run. Let's do it again." Kakuzu was about to jump down but Nagayoshi's amazed wowing made him pause.

"Look at the whole village, Oniisan! It's a great view up here!" Nagayoshi exclaimed frivolously.

"We can sightsee later. Come on!" Kakuzu commanded before jumping down, spinning and swinging from branch to branch before landing on the ground gracefully. Meanwhile, Nagayoshi took a safer approach.

**|-oOo-|**

"Halt! I need a break!" Nagayoshi demanded loudly. They had been racing five times and Nagayoshi failed to win any of those. However, there were improvements in every race as well as downfalls. Nagayoshi never had been this exhausted. Never. Not even as tired as when she was running from angry mobs. It was worth it, though. She finally can control her chakra out of instinct which was exactly the way Kakuzu wanted. That was why the man approved her demand.

Nagayoshi leaned against the tree trunk while panting and viewing the scenery of Kumogakure. The sun was setting and the red tint gave the village in the clouds a painting-like touch. Kakuzu sat on a tree branch near her, taking his breath as well.

"You still need to trigger your lightning affinity to your chakra when you're running. That way, you can outrun anybody. We'll do this again tomorrow and I will find a way to make you use that lightning chakra of yours. Hey, do you listen to—" Kakuzu stopped his sentence midway. The girl had fallen asleep. It seemed like that Kakuzu had worn her out completely. He sighed, "Guess I have to explain everything tomorrow." He stood up, transformed to his disguise mode, and carried the girl on his back.

She squirmed on his back and Kakuzu had to stay still so she wouldn't accidentally fell off. She subconsciously snuggled his back and dozed deeper. "Umh…I…win…" she mumbled.

Kakuzu chuckled lightly. She was dreaming that she had beaten him in the race. Carefully this time, he jumped down from the top of the tree down to the ground, successfully without waking her up. This experience brought Kakuzu to a strange yet melancholic nostalgia. Kakuzu closed his eyes; not wanting to remember those dark days—or the days before the dark days.

Those days…

Want it or not, this event reminded him of them. Come to think of it, it was probably because Kakuzu used to have a little a sister did he accepted Nagayoshi's existence easily. She and his late sister might be different in any ways available, but at the same time, they also have a lot of similarities. For example, their cheerfulness was exactly the same. That, and also the fact that their early childhood wasn't bright at all.

Kakuzu looked over his shoulder. He shuddered slightly at the tickling breath that touched the nape of his neck. She snored faintly and she kept saying small, discontinued words which Kakuzu couldn't grasp the meaning. He chuckled, mainly at himself. For someone so old, he sure has this bizarre bonding with children. If it wasn't because of his bloodlust and short fuse, he would have been working as a teacher. But…he just didn't understand what was going on. He and Nagayoshi's sibling status were just a bogus, after all. And again…

He enjoyed it.

**|-oOo-|**

Nagayoshi couldn't stop moaning or groaning and it annoyed Kakuzu to no end. Due to her intense training yesterday, her legs ached really badly that she could barely stand. She lay on the futon awkwardly, continue to groan in pain. Kakuzu grabbed an ice pack and threw it to Nagayoshi so she could ease the pain on her own.

"Ow…ow…ow…" Nagayoshi whimpered.

"Enough whining." Kakuzu snapped. "Now all my explanations are a waste. I can't even take you to the training grounds again while you still have a lot to improve."

"Sorry…" Nagayoshi apologized meekly. She rubbed the ice pack on her legs and shivered to the chillness. "Looks like I'm going to be a terrible ninja." she said doubtingly.

Kakuzu huffed coldly, "So much for Miss I-can-do-everything. In the end, you're just like any other whiny kid."

"Meany…" Nagayoshi growled. "Now I'm going to get bored to death without anything to do!" Kakuzu was right; she was a whiny kid in the end.

He rolled his eyes when Nagayoshi began to rant furiously, swinging her arms fiercely to the air to emphasize more of her obvious anguish. For five minutes or so, the girl's mood hadn't gone better and if this remained, Kakuzu might have lost his head due to overloaded stress level. He quickly tried to find a solution for (mostly) his good and Nagayoshi's. It happened that said solution was attached to his thigh.

_Bump!_

Nagayoshi's ranting stopped and she diverted her eyes to a shuriken pouch that landed somewhere near her. She silently stared at Kakuzu who, by the time she landed her eyes upon, was sighing in relief and was thanking the gods. "What's with the shuriken pouch, Oniisan?"

"Don't you want to learn how to throw them? I didn't really intend to teach you this because it's a thing that your school should have teach you. But…since your chakra controlling lesson is stalled due to your whiny legs, I guess I can teach you this early. Anyway, because it's simple, no chakra needed."

Nagayoshi reached out for the shuriken pouch and rummaged the insides. "Not a bad idea. But where are we going to—whoa! Hey! Let go of me!" Nagayoshi struggled when Kakuzu pulled her on the collar to the backyard. Kakuzu was being lazy to lift her on his shoulder.

"We're practicing on the backyard. There happened to be a target board. Looks like we're not the first nomadic ninja to live here." Kakuzu said as he dragged his sister to the backyard. He released her collar and Nagayoshi adjusted her sitting position so she could throw the shuriken with ease and without triggering the pain. "Do I need to explain anything?" Kakuzu asked.

"Uh…I don't think so. I just have to throw it, right?"

Kakuzu rolled his eyes and Nagayoshi interjected, "Alright, alright!" The girl mumbled a few words before she made her first shot—which failed miserably, since it was inches away from the outer line. The siblings stared at each other both blankly and awkwardly. "Er…oops?"

"Damn, you suck…"

* * *

**This chapter is fairly dry on the first few paragraphs. I had a lot of distraction on that part so…sorry. (ish feeling guilty DX)… Anyway, for a few chapters ahead, I will be telling the story according to Nagayoshi's school years. So the next chapters will be 'Year 2', 'Year 3', and so on until she's graduated. I PROMISE next time it'll be much better. I plan on giving it a little drama spice.**

**Now I'd like you to tell me what you think of this chapter and what can I improve from here. Thank you!**


	5. Year 2

**Chapter 4: Year 2**

_Smack!_ Right in the middle.

"Excellent! Masao-kun gets a full score!" Nagayoshi's class' sensei, Okawa-sensei, marked the mid-term test for second year students. Upon hearing the word 'full score' Nagayoshi's eyes bulged and she passed forcefully through the crowd of wowing and squealing girls only to see her closest male friend to successfully shot five bull's-eyes.

She gaped at the outcome, "No way!" She exclaimed. She flew her gaze to the ash-haired boy who was smiling coolly at her. Masao waved his hand and suddenly, Nagayoshi felt like she was inside a constrictor's stomach with the girls pushing to see Masao. She fell butt first on the very back of the crowd. She grunted and groaned at the dull ache on her butt.

"That was a surprise." Akito said. Unlike the other girls, Akito never fanaticize over Masao—which was also her best friend aside from Nagayoshi. The trio had been together ever since the first time they entered ninja school. This might sound very cliché, but both Akito and Masao were quite popular in the ninja school community. Akito was cute and kind while Masao was decent and, frankly, attractive. Nagayoshi was, again as she described herself lately, a mere bacteria until a few months before first year's final exam which was maintaining the balance of chakra flow. She excelled in it and her speed test was amazing too. All that victory was courtesy to Kakuzu. **_[insert chibi Kakuzu holding a peace sign]_**

"What is?" Nagayoshi asked, standing up and cleaning her butt from dirt.

"You were the best shooter so far, right? It must be pretty shocking to have your position replaced by your own friend." Akito circled an arm around Nagayoshi's shoulders.

"It is shocking, but I shouldn't be mad. I did have a little mistake on my turn." Nagayoshi admitted. Afterwards, she rotated her shoulders and Akito's ears caught a few significantly loud crackling coming from her bone. Nagayoshi whistled in relief. "That felt so good! Gah, my arm hurts!"

"What happened?" Akito asked pointing at her shoulder, her eyes still opened wide.

"Huh? Oh, it's just nothing. I think I overdid my shuriken-throwing practice last night."

"Aw…Naga-chan is so hard-working!" Akito cooed.

_Actually…_ Nagayoshi corrected mentally, _Kakuzu-niisan forced me to duel him on taijutsu for five hours straight yesterday._

No kidding. That man really did it.

Apparently, Kakuzu got an order from Pein to make Nagayoshi's learning on ninja skills be accelerated and, thus, the leader wanted Kakuzu to teach Nagayoshi the crucial parts of ninja skills one semester ahead of the school. Hopefully, that would make Nagayoshi's graduation happen faster—which also means he had to make Nagayoshi look like a prodigy. Kakuzu obeyed the order and so that should give you the reason why Kakuzu began to train his sister intensively.

"Nagayoshi-chan." Masao exited the crowd and gathered with his friends. He was glad that finally he could be together with his two non-choking female friends.

"Yo, Masao-kun! Congratulations! You're great! That was an awesome bull's-eye." Nagayoshi commented.

"Thank you! I worked hard to be at the same level as Nagayoshi-chan." Masao smiled.

Nagayoshi blushed and rubbed her head embarrassedly, "Aw, shucks, Masao-kun. I'm not that great."

Akito looked at her two friends. Her fingers twiddled with each other and then she said, "Let's see if you guys can balance with each other for the next subject."

"What is that?" Masao asked, his usually half-lidded eyes opened more slightly.

"That would be taijutsu." Okawa-sensei interjected. The three seven-year-olds looked at their teacher with perplexity or in Nagayoshi's case, nervousness. "Taijutsu is basically a hand-to-hand combat technique. You'll learn on how to kick and punch." he explained.

Akito clasped her hands together gleefully. "Finally! The time that I've been waiting for!" she cheered.

"That sure sound like fun, right, Nagayoshi-chan?" Masao turned to Nagayoshi who nodded in a fake enthusiasm. However, Masao could see through the lies, "Nagayoshi-chan, you don't look so happy. What is it?"

"Huh? Naga-chan, are you alright?" Akito asked too. She grabbed both of Nagayoshi's shoulders with worry.

"I'm alright, really. I was just…" she looked elsewhere and the only thing she could stare other than her friends' faces was the maple tree. "I was just thinking if my Oniisan would want to help me with taijutsu."

"Oh, is your brother a good ninja, Nagayoshi-chan?" Okawa-sensei squatted to the same level as she and with a smile he asked.

"Well, quite, I guess. I saw him fight before." Nagayoshi answered. She had a lot of hesitation. Kakuzu told her not to mention anything about him too much, especially about the intensive training he made her do. If she was going to say that, she must instead tell people that she spar her ass off. "Well…he told me a few things before and told me to try it."

"It's so predictable." Akito crossed her arms, pouting without means of offending Nagayoshi, "Naga-chan must've trained hard as soon as she knows how to use taijutsu. We'll see. She's going to break the wood post the first time we're going to have our taijutsu practice."

"Ah, Akito-chan, please don't be angry!" Nagayoshi apologized, grabbing her hands. Akito grinned at her and Nagayoshi sighed in relief. Masao laughed at their silliness. Little to their knowledge, their closeness made a few students to feel a little jealous. And most of the jealousy was directed to Nagayoshi who, to them, was not a popular person. Bacterium.

**|-oOo-|**

Kakuzu stood still, closing his eyes and opening his ears. He opened his other sensory too like the nose (despite under the mask) and skin pores. He was locating his prey; searching for the solid presence, the scent, and especially the noise. Once those were found, he would snap his eyes open and began his pursuit.

Rustle. On seven o'clock.

Rapidly, he pitched a kunai at the nearest bush on said coordinates. Before the kunai shot at the bushes, Nagayoshi slid out of her hiding place and threw a couple of shuriken at Kakuzu. Easily, Kakuzu evaded the first throw and with another kunai, he blocked the second one. That act of blocking covered his eyes from seeing Nagayoshi's figure that had ran to another direction to attack him. Nagayoshi chose the back and lunged at him fiercely. She roared as she swerved her kunai-armed hand towards his back.

Kakuzu perceived her battle roar and without bother looking back, twisted his arm backwards and seized Nagayoshi's collar. Nagayoshi grunted as her body swung violently and her hand disarmed from the kunai.

"Don't make noises too loud when you're attacking in such slow speed!" Kakuzu bellowed, hands clenching tightly on Nagayoshi's collar and the girl squirmed to get free. Kakuzu yanked his head back when Nagayoshi's legs swerved to send him kicks which failed. With a powerful thrust, Kakuzu lifted Nagayoshi up before veering earthward. He hit his brakes; his motion stopped immediately just right before Nagayoshi's head made a shattering impact with the gravel training ground. He unclenched his fist and the girl dropped safely.

"Aaah~! I lost again!" Nagayoshi whined, lying on the ground exhaustedly. She wiped the thick beads of sweat from her forehead and continued to pant.

"Yeah, but it wasn't too bad. Only…you need to keep quiet unless you can attack me faster. Still…" Kakuzu sighed, sitting down and leaning back, "you still have A LOT to work on. Not good enough."

Nagayoshi frowned, "You're always a critic!"

"You're always a whiner." Kakuzu counter-attacked coolly and it worked like magic.

The adoptive siblings sat there for a good few minutes in silence. Wind blew and helped them wipe the sweat away. Kakuzu dreaded to open his mask and let the wind cool his lower part of the face down, but his alertness kept reminding him of potential unwanted enemies. Still, he couldn't help but closing his eyes slowly and enjoyed the gift from nature. He kept his eyes closed even when he heard his sister spoke.

"Masao-kun beat me in shuriken test today." Nagayoshi said. She crunched her eyes, expecting a disgruntled growl from Kakuzu, but it didn't come.

"How is that possible?" Kakuzu asked.

"I, uh…sort of messed up. I missed the bull's-eye and hit the second inner circle instead on my last throw. So out of 250, I got 240."

"That wasn't too bad. You should be careful, still. In the real world, you can let a mission fall into failure with just one missed hit."

"Really? Can't you make it up somehow?"

"You might, but it will take a lot of work, effort, and sacrifice. The point is: it'll make your life much harder."

"But you can make it up easily, can't you, Oniisan? You're a great ninja!"

Kakuzu sighed and his eyelids folded open. "You don't understand, Nagayoshi. The real ninja world is unlike what you hear from books or tall tales. I refuse to tell you tall tales because those things are lies and fantasies. By the time I take you to Akatsuki, I'll show you the real ninja world."

Nagayoshi stared at her brother silently and decided not to argue about it. She, however, didn't release her gaze from the large tanned man sitting beside her. She watched as Kakuzu slid his hand under his sleeve to scratch the itch on his shoulder. The sleeve curled up and showed stitches circling one part of his upper arm, near the elbow, and somewhat automatically, Nagayoshi stroked it, startling her brother.

Kakuzu grabbed her hand and removed it from his arm. Soon, he found himself awkward under Nagayoshi's poignant stare to his arm. He knew immediately what she had in mind as her eyes met his. It had been a year and three months, anyway. Kakuzu felt it was alright to tell her a little of his story. "It was a fight." he said. "The biggest fight I had so far and these stitches are its reminder."

"I'm sorry." she said. She lowered her head and watched the ants marching on the gray soil instead. She didn't rise up her head until Kakuzu's large hands patted her smaller head.

"It's okay." he said calmly. He stood up, a grunt followed as he pushed his knees. "Time to go home." Kakuzu put on his disguise mode and ambled ahead. He felt four smaller and slimmer fingers slipped into his right hand. He looked down with an unseen start and found his adopted little sister smiling at him. He revert his gaze to the road ahead of them; his fingers curled enclosing the small ones.

**|-oOo-|**

"Uh…Akito-chan, what are you doing with my hair?" Nagayoshi asked after feeling that her long hair was being curled, lifted, and pulled backwards. That and Akito's fingers tickled her scalp. "Stop it!" she shook her head like a dog drying itself.

"Aw, man! I was trying to style your hair!" Akito bleated.

"I don't need it now."

"Of course you do!" Akito insisted. "Next is taijutsu lesson and your hair might get in your way."

Nagayoshi shrugged, "It is kind of heavy and the bangs do get in front of my eyes most of the time." she admitted.

"Well, you can tie it up. Like this." Akito demonstrated and Nagayoshi decided not to argue since Akito was more persistent than she. "Aw…Naga-chan looked so cute!"

"Akito-chan's right." Masao added from the seat one row behind them. "Nagayoshi-chan does look better with her hair tied." said the boy with a wide smile. His compliment made Nagayoshi's face to flush in a vivid shade of red. On the other hand, someone else's skin lost its true color.

After a moment, Nagayoshi untied her hair, groaning, "Bah, it's getting heavier than before!" She noticed Akito whipped her head up to stare at her.

"Ah, but I like it that way!" Masao protested but he was ignored by Nagayoshi.

"I'm sorry, Akito-chan." Nagayoshi apologized and returned her hair band to the original owner. "But I don't think I'll take your suggestion." She smiled at her friend who retrieved her hair band reluctantly. Akito faced her desk again; Nagayoshi couldn't see the look in her eyes but she could guess correctly how it supposed to look.

Okawa-sensei entered the class, announced the starting of their new ninja technique subject and ushered the students out to the field. Students were aligned and Nagayoshi got behind Akito who was behind other students. One by one, they were told to kick a block of wooden dummy. The harder the dummy swung the better.

Nagayoshi leaned to the side and she saw her class' biggest kid kicked the dummy and it swerved back and forth madly. Nagayoshi's corners of the mouth dropped as her eyebrows raised high. It seemed to her that she got other rivals in taijutsu other than Masao. Heck, she didn't even know what that boy was capable of. Who knows, maybe Masao trained in advance secretly too.

Akito's turn came by. Nagayoshi tapped her shoulder, wishing her good luck. Her friend nodded and went for the dummy and gave it a square kick on the chest. The dummy swerved even more madly than the big kid's kick. Both Nagayoshi and Okawa-sensei's eyebrow rose. Akito just gave her best shot and more. She put her feelings to it.

Then it was Nagayoshi's turn. Standing face-to-face with the wooden dummy, it brought Nagayoshi to a short flashback. It happened just about two months ago. It was the first time Kakuzu taught her about taijutsu and more surprisingly, she didn't request for it. She didn't even know what taijutsu was at that time. And in those times, Nagayoshi was criticized and scolded much more often than usual. Kakuzu decided to become extra Spartan too by giving her the taste of a real punch.

Nagayoshi lifted her left leg and powerfully kicked it on the dummy's face. The dummy didn't sway as madly as with Akito's kick, but it was still stronger than the big kid's.

"Whoa." Okawa-sensei whistled, "That was a pretty high kick, Nagayoshi-chan. You practice a lot with your brother, don't you?"

Nagayoshi rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "Yeah, my brother's quite tall so I do need to kick higher when I'm sparring with him."

Okawa-sensei nodded approvingly. "Good, now move back to the line, please."

Nagayoshi obeyed her teacher. She combed the strands of hair that stick to her mouth after she gave the kick and swiped her longs bangs out of her eyes. She sighed crossly, "I need to do something with this mess."

"Hey, Nagayoshi-chan." Masao called her, mumbling. She rotated her head to meet his soft-looking face smiling as usual at her. "That was great."

One thing he didn't know, he had just provoked someone again.

**|-oOo-|**

"Oniisan, can I borrow one of your kunai?" Nagayoshi asked some time after she got home. Kakuzu was reading a newspaper that he bought while Nagayoshi was still at school. Newspapers were the only thing worth enough for Kakuzu to buy because without it, he would never know the flow of money around the ninja world.

"Okay. You know where it is, right?" he answered lazily, eyes still strongly attached to every letter on the paper.

Nagayoshi huffed indignantly and replied, "I know…I know…"

Kakuzu kept reading, his awareness of that Nagayoshi was using the bathroom was somewhere between yes and no. He grunted crossly upon seeing the article that mentioned the rising prices on main needs like rice, bread, and most of all, milk. Kakuzu could imagine the best as well as the worst scenario when he outlawed Nagayoshi from buying more milk. They would argue for a long time and Nagayoshi would whine more than he could anticipate.

"Damn market…" he swore. But on the lighter side, "At least she can still buy apples."

Five minutes…

Ten minutes…

Ten minutes three seconds…

Kakuzu suddenly (and finally) realized that Nagayoshi was in the bathroom and he knew perfectly that she can't be taking a bath. Moreover, they hadn't spar today and Kakuzu's current policy said that they shall spar in order to sharpen Nagayoshi's taijutsu. He stepped carefully and peered over to the closed bathroom door. The silhouette of Nagayoshi was present. Was she planning on making them both go bankrupt by wasting the use of water? Oh no, whatever it was, Kakuzu had to do something.

"Nagayoshi? What took you so long?" he asked, walking towards the bathroom. He didn't open it yet, waiting for response. Yet, there came none.

Kakuzu massaged the bridge of his nose, sighing exasperatedly. He mumbled negative things inaudibly and briskly stopped upon recalling something that he thought was pretty crucial to know what was going on the other side of the door. Nagayoshi asked to borrow his kunai. And he granted it.

_Oh shit…_ he mentally swore. _What wrong have I done now?_ He asked himself. He looked to the floor. He didn't find the thing that he was searching for, but that still didn't turn his alarm off. Slowly and carefully, he grasped the handle of the door. He then said, "Hey, don't overuse the water—oh my…" Kakuzu lost his ability to speak as soon as he barged unexpectedly to the bathroom. If only his bones were weaker, he would have fallen backwards.

A kunai in her hand, the girl just stared blankly at her brother. Hundreds of hair scattered on the tiled floor, changing the blue tile entirely into black—although not all corners were covered. Her long hair was cropped more than three-quarter of its original length. No—it was probably more. Kakuzu almost didn't recognize her.

"What…?" Nagayoshi asked timidly.

"What are you doing?" Kakuzu asked back, finally regaining the use of vocal chords.

"Cutting my hair." Nagayoshi answered quickly.

"Uh-huh, I can see that. But…why…?" he stepped closer, careful with his footsteps since he didn't want to step on the long cropped strands of her hair on the floor.

"Um…I just think it's getting annoying and sort of disturbing when I'm fighting. And since tying it up doesn't help at all, I decided to cut it." Nagayoshi answered honestly, grinning at the end. She grimaced when Kakuzu ran his coffee-tan fingers through her hair. She knew Kakuzu wasn't going to yell at her, but just by looking at his eyes made her think that she just did something terribly wrong.

"It's all messy and horribly uneven, don't you know that?" Kakuzu remarked, his voice heavy with a suppressed sigh.

Nagayoshi pouted, "Yeah…I know…. It's not an easy job."

"I thought you know how to use scissors." Kakuzu said, opening the cabinet and pulled out a pair of scissors.

"Oh…" Nagayoshi giggled sheepishly. "I suppose I forgot it was there."

"Stay still." Kakuzu said, turning Nagayoshi around so she faced the mirror while still standing on the piece of wood. "Dang, you cut them really short, kiddo. I can't help make it look any more feminine."

"It's okay. I don't care about looks. I did this because it's disturbing, remember?"

"Fine. But don't go complaining to me if people mistake you as a boy." Kakuzu ran his fingers through Nagayoshi's hair again and snipped the uneven parts of her hair. He tried not to crop it any shorter than it already had, so he carefully did his work. He cut his own hair too, by the way, because he refused to pay a barber to do it for him. To him, the price doesn't worth for the final work. It was a different story when it came to hairstyling.

Once he was pretty content with how it looked, he ruffled her hair, cleaning it from any remainder of the cutting. He also cleaned the back of Nagayoshi's neck. "There you go! I have to say you really look like a boy now. Should your attitude be like a boy, I might as well call you little brother." he chuckled at the image of having a little brother. "Ha…Otouto-_chan_…" he scoffed.

"Stop mocking me." Nagayoshi scowled. "If I turn out to act like a boy, it would be your fault."

Kakuzu chuckled, patting and ruffling the girl's now short hair. "Nah, once a girl always be a girl. I hope you don't lose your secret admirer." Kakuzu left the bathroom after restoring the pair of scissors, chortling at his sister's cluelessness.

"Wait! Oniisan, what's that supposed to mean?!" she hollered, chasing after her brother. However, Kakuzu rebuffed to tell her his meaning, saying that it wasn't time yet.

**|-oOo-|**

It was the second time ever since she entered the ninja school did she feel unlike a mere bacteria. Her facial signature was recognizable as many people know her as 'the girl that hangs out with Akito and Masao'. They remembered her with that super-straight pitch black long hair that has those unattractive bangs covering 100 percent of her forehead. Once again, Nagayoshi felt like carrying a mountain on both of her shoulders. She tried not to think of people's opinions as it would destruct her principles on looks. She was lucky to have that thought distracted when she met her friends.

"Na-Na-Na-Naga-chan?" Akito stuttered when Nagayoshi called and waved at her. She gaped and Nagayoshi guffawed at her hilarious black hole expression. "What happened to you?! You change like completely!"

"I know! I cut this myself—well, Oniisan helped too." Nagayoshi answered, wearing her wide smile as always.

"But you look so much like a boy now." Akito frowned. The frown faded when she saw Nagayoshi just laughed at it as if everything was nothing at all—which is actually exactly what her mind said.

"Oniisan said that too, but I don't really care. Actually, I like it this way. It's much lighter and it's easier to wash." Nagayoshi answered lightheartedly. "And believe me or not, I think I look much better like this. Oh, hello there, Masao-kun!"

"Masao-kun! Look what Naga-chan did to her head!" Akito announced in horror. Nagayoshi complained about that terrorized face of hers.

Masao's eyes expanded. Nagayoshi wanted to slap herself by now. "Uh…what happened?" he asked.

"Long story!" Nagayoshi snapped. She hated to repeat herself and, thus, she hated when people kept asking her the same thing. Lucky for her, Akito volunteered to explain to Masao.

"It's almost as short as my hair." Masao scrutinized, cupping his chin.

"But after I think about it, it does suit Naga-chan better. Your face looked brighter now that a little of your forehead is exposed." Akito commented, making Nagayoshi's smile grew bigger.

"Thanks! That makes up my day!" Nagayoshi grinned and the girls walked together to the classroom. The off-white haired boy just stared passively before the corners of his mouth curled upwards and he began to follow them serenely.

Nagayoshi became popular for the day. All of her classmates were surprised with her abrupt and drastic change on her hair. They asked her many questions; even some of them were irrelevant and nonsensical. Those queries overwhelmed her. She thought, _How could Akito-chan and Masao-kun stand against all this pressure?_ Those two were popular ever since the beginning of the year and the year before. Somehow, Nagayoshi missed being a mere bacterium with high scores again. It had less pressure and less repetitive questions.

The fact that many people actually paid so much heed to a meager hairstyle bewildered her. She never really knew the true (or the_ seemingly_ true) value of exterior style and always has thought that changing them was a way to gain ergonomic qualities. That was what Akira and Hitsuji taught her. She never really thought of attracting other people with it; it had never been her goal. She does understand that it was important to dress correctly depending on the situation. Just because she was raised as an orphaned street rat doesn't mean she was completely an idiot.

It made her glad when school time was finally over. Eagerly, she ran back home—far away from those excessive attention. She preferred sparring with Kakuzu. As usual, she practiced her punches, kicks, and head-butts at him. Sometimes, she succeeded on landing them on Kakuzu's body but most of the time she either failed or Kakuzu managed to evade them.

Kakuzu began to add challenges to the difficulty level. This time, he used clones, forcing Nagayoshi to fight against all of them. Kakuzu's reason was so that she would get used to fighting against groups. "Sometimes," he said, "ANBUs attack you altogether—like a pack of wolves. You _cannot_ be the caribou. You have to be something bigger and stronger than them."

Just like any beginning of something new, Nagayoshi suffered muscle-ache. Nagayoshi did accustomed to pumping her muscles to fighting situations, but she never pushed this far. The tiredness when fighting against one and against many was totally different. Fighting against more than one individual cost more focus and also more stamina. But it was just a muscle-ache; the next day, Nagayoshi could go back to normal activities, including sparring.

Despite all that sacrifice and hard-work, she still had to restrain herself from overusing it when the final exam of Year 2 came by. At this point, Nagayoshi had already accustomed to fight against groups (though that didn't guarantee her victory) and had learned ninja history. She liked history, though there were parts that really bored her to death.

In the exam, students were selected by pulling out numbers. Provided that the whole second year class' students were in an even-numbered population, they were divided into two. Therefore, a pair of the same numbers were put in a wooden box; students were supposed to pick one out and the same number will have to fight against each other. For example: Student who gets number 1 must fight against the student that also hold the same number. The winners or losers weren't really important to the school grades—the effort, style, accuracy, and fluency were the criteria needed to be fulfilled in order to pass.

"Hey, Naga-chan, what number did you get?" Akito asked, leaning to see the piece of white paper that was held by her friend. Masao scooted to her other side too, him also curious of her number.

"I got four." Nagayoshi said rather gravely. Four didn't sound too good for her, but at least she didn't get one.

"I got sixteen!" Akito said.

"And I got twelve." Masao added.

"Geez, you guys are lucky." Nagayoshi pouted. "Are you guys nervous? I am."

"Me too. What if I got the strong kid?" Akito wondered with anxiety written on her face.

Nagayoshi broke the ice by pointing at herself, "Who? Me?" she asked. She laughed when Akito pushed her playfully. "Ahaha! Just kidding! We're on a different number, anyway."

"I thought you're the strong kid, Akito-chan." Masao said. "I remember that kick you do the first time we learned taijutsu. It was even stronger than Guma." As always, Masao stated his opinions with a soft smile. That smile made Akito fly, like her namesake. It even flattered the reddish brown-haired girl more when Nagayoshi nodded in approval.

"Number 1, please step forward." the third year teacher, Shuugei-sensei, announced. While the two students who got number 1 stepped into the middle of the room, the others stayed out and bordered by a tall wired fence. It was for safety reasons, but Nagayoshi felt like she was looking at a rooster match. The time was limited to ten minutes or at least until one of the two surrender or fall.

Only ten minutes…

Nagayoshi's fight was going to come sooner than she would have thought.

**|-oOo-|**

_"A taijutsu exam? That's what they're testing for second year?" _Kakuzu recalled he asked that when Nagayoshi told him about said exam. _They were at the usual sparring field; Nagayoshi splayed on the ground in absolute fatigue while Kakuzu just sat beside her._

_"Uh…yeah."_ _she answered in-between pants. "That was our main practical subject for this year. The written one…well…you get the idea."_

_Kakuzu nodded, wiping sweat from his eyebrows. He hadn't been paying attention, but lately he realized how much sweat his pores had drenched after training this young girl. The day had been hot, but since they lived in Land of Lightning that was mostly cloudy, the sun didn't really bake them. Putting the thoughts aside for the mean time, he asked, "So which non-practical subject do you like?"_

_"Um…I'm not sure. Totally not math. Uh…maybe history…I like this story about this Madara Uchiha person. He sounds strong. Oh, and the Shodaime Hokage. He even sounds stronger than Madara."_

_Kakuzu scoffed. "Senju, huh? Well, yeah, he was strong. But too soft—no—more like cushy."_

_"Eh? What are you talking about?"_

_"None of your business, kid."_

Kakuzu adhered himself to the wall, using the shade of the nearby maple tree to hide himself. He wanted to see how Nagayoshi would work. Taijutsu was crucial; he didn't want his sister to lose against some kid whose training time was not equal to hers at all. He had trained her taijutsu five hours a day, six days a week, ever since before she got into second year. If all those hard work vamoosed in the hands of a lazy little kid, he planned not to forgive her.

She may have lost in the last year's exam of throwing shuriken; he forgave that. It was partially his fault for introducing taijutsu a week in advance. Anyway, he had felt something about Masao. He was Nagayoshi's most potential rival, so far, according to what he observed. That kid was sharp, he thought, and precise.

The first two fights ended up fairly quickly as they were sort of one-sided. The third one occurred for five extra minutes. Finally, fourth match. Kakuzu enhanced his chakra, not wanting to miss this. He heard his sister's name being announced and another name that sounded like 'Umasaki'. He got to see Nagayoshi's opponent; a skinny—or according to Kakuzu's snide remark, anorexic—girl whose skin was twice as dark as Kakuzu's. Her hair was chocolate brown, tied in shoulder-length dreadlocks. She had a heartless glance given by her lime green eyes.

_Doesn't she sorta lack muscles? _Kakuzu asked himself. _But she looked kinda scary,_ he added mentally. He continued to watch intently; Nagayoshi's ebony eyes glanced harder than usual. She seemed nervous to him. _What is it, Nagayoshi? Don't tell me you're afraid of this girl._

The slightly lumpy teacher whished his hand downward, signaling the combat to start. Finally! Kakuzu witnessed the dark girl called Umasaki thrusting her fistful arm harshly, accentuating her whole soulless look. And, damn, was it quick! Luckily, Nagayoshi managed to dodge on time. Umasaki kept propelling punches, forcing her opponent to back away and swinging her head left and right.

Umasaki punched again. Kakuzu noticed a deceleration in the last punch and he would have used that chance to give a counter attack. Nagayoshi seemed to read his mind; she grabbed Umasaki's wrist with one hand and with the other, she propelled a powerful punch to her jaw. Kakuzu's spirit flickered—that was what he usually did to Nagayoshi. He was impressed; his sister learned more than he thought she would have.

The crowd gasped but that didn't let both Nagayoshi and Umasaki to distract them. They impelled austere punches at each other. Most of them were evaded, another some were blocked with arms or hands, and only a couple hit each of them. Kakuzu soon got a little tired. They only threw punches and nothing else variable. But his near boredom died out when Umasaki threw another (dull) punch in which Nagayoshi evaded by yanking her head backwards before she swung her whole body to give a roundhouse kick right on the face, most particularly the ear.

Kakuzu nearly let himself chuckle. That Umasaki girl had just tasted Nagayoshi's number one skin-to-skin attack. The Umasaki girl didn't take more than three seconds to rise and glowered at Nagayoshi who was unfazed by it. With a feral cry, Umasaki lunged forward at Nagayoshi who had prepared a powerful stance to receive her battle rampage. Nagayoshi winced a little as Umasaki's head rammed at her lower torso. Using their closeness, Nagayoshi grabbed Umasaki's non-sleeved surfer shirt and swing her around before throwing her towards the nearest fence. That amazed Kakuzu a lot.

Nagayoshi proved to control the advantages in this combat. Before Umasaki could move again, Nagayoshi clutched her arms, stepped on her toes and held her down onto the fence. The dark-skinned girl struggled vehemently and Nagayoshi did just the same thing. Umasaki was in a crisis; she should just surrender. By the way, it was just a testing educational combat. Kakuzu grew suspicious with her animalistic behavior. And his suspicious grew into shock when the dark-skinned girl managed to slip her toes out of Nagayoshi's foot and kicked her on the abdomen with her knee.

Nagayoshi remained standing though the look of pain on her face could not be withheld. Umasaki made an even more ferocious move: she pulled her head and twice as fast slammed it against Nagayoshi's, striking her left cheekbone. That effectively caused Nagayoshi to let go of her fingers and her brother to have his eyes nearly pop out. Umasaki raised her arm to give Nagayoshi a slicing hit on the crook of her neck—but Shuugei-sensei held her arm.

"Time's up." he said indifferently.

Up on the top window of the arena building, Kakuzu didn't regret his snooping to the ninja school just to watch his sister fight against other people other than himself. He thought Nagayoshi's opponent would be an even whinier kid, but no! Oh, how grateful he was that Nagayoshi got the strong kid. That was quite of a match to be actually done by seven-year-olds. The whole ten minutes used effectively to spawn combat art.

Kakuzu continued to observe. Not only he that was completely frazzled by that breath-taking match, but the other students and even teachers (who act as judges) were very astonished as well. Students gathered around the two combatants. Kakuzu saw how the girl, Akito, embraced his sister so tightly. Nagayoshi pushed her a little; the punches and kicks must have left some aching bruises. Nagayoshi then approached her opponent—this time with her bright toothy smile. Umasaki just stared at her dumbfounded and finally, and shyly, shook her hands with Nagayoshi.

There was nothing else to look and Kakuzu was contented. Standing up and loosening his chakra from stamping on the wall, he made a one-handed seal and poof away.

**|-oOo-|**

Door opened.

Door closed.

"Oniisan, I'm home." Nagayoshi announced her arrival lethargically. Using her toes, she slipped off her feet out of her sandals and not bothering to put them in the shoe rack. She limped to the bedroom, dropping her schoolbag somewhere in midway, near the kitchen. Too tired to pull out the futon, she lied down straight to the cool tatami.

"How was the exam?" she heard Kakuzu asked from somewhere outside the bedroom.

"Huh? Oh…yeah…it was okay…" she answered half-heartedly. Her eyelids were like curtains made of asteroid sheets. They wanted her eyes to close and Nagayoshi couldn't and didn't refuse it. Her ears caught Kakuzu's footsteps drawing nearer. His feet had stepped on the tatami and, still with eyes closed, she said, "Ah…I don't wanna spar today…"

She grimaced when a malleable, wet, and sleek object pressed onto her aching left cheekbone. It was cold and she knew the chill from anywhere. It was her trusty ice pack. She opened one eye but she couldn't see anything; the ice pack blocked most of her view, but she knew Kakuzu was there and he was the one who pressed the ice pack to her face.

"It's alright. You can have a break today." Kakuzu answered calmly. Nagayoshi sighed in relief and closed her opened eye. Soon, she lingered in reality no longer. That means she just missed to witness the ascending of Kakuzu's stitches near his mouth. Surely, she would want to see _that_.

* * *

**Yowza! I made this in less than three days! And without drafting! Well…except for the part where Nagayoshi recklessly cropped her hair. The fighting part was entirely improvisation. Too bad it was timed, if not, I might use extra five MS Word pages to describe their combat. Though I kind of disappointed that Umasaki didn't fight like her namesake: 'The Horse' of the Chinese Zodiac. She should've done more kicking than punching. D'arvit, Kogito…**

**And I absolutely love Kakuzu in this chappie! I don't care if you call him OOC or whatever—I love him and I know you do too! Admit it! Kakuzu is just so full of mystery, nobody could hate him! Now would you be so kind to give me a review, constructive or not? Reviews make me work faster.**


	6. Year 3

**Chapter 5: Year 3**

Squirm. Struggle. Writhe. Wrestle. Brawl.

All useless.

Desperation ensued.

"Aaaargh! Let me go! This is so unfair!" Nagayoshi roared. "Owowowow! That's my apple-eating hand!" she snapped at Kakuzu—seven of them—while there were only one Nagayoshi. These seven had Nagayoshi squashed to the ground. Each of them held different parts of her body down, even the upper back and the lower back.

"You're getting worse!" the Kakuzu that pressed her head down scolded.

"Am not! I beat the other thirteen!" Nagayoshi retorted back. She wriggled and arched her back violently, but the Kakuzus easily held her down.

Kakuzu, supposedly the real one, scoffed, "Please…you used to reduce my number to three."

"It was different! You only made ten clones! This time you made twenty!"

"And that should make a difference why…?" Kakuzu asked scornfully. He knew it was obvious, but taunting her like that made up his day somehow. He smirked when Nagayoshi grunted.

"I'm not you." Nagayoshi answered rather bitterly. "I can't possibly beat all of you all by myself. It's just impossible, even if I'm much stronger than now."

The other six Kakuzu vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the real Kakuzu (indeed, the one who held down Nagayoshi's head) alone. He stood up, letting his sister free. "You're right." he said. "Unless you're a god, it's just impossible for a one-man army to attack the whole village defense force. Well, it's time anyway. You can control your chakra competently, keeping it balanced on any given surface including water, using them in your taijutsu moves—now it's finally time to teach you this."

Nagayoshi got up to her feet, dusting herself off of dirt, before staring at Kakuzu with a colossal befuddlement. Her escalating eyebrow accentuated her cluelessness.

"It's time I have to teach you how to make clones." Kakuzu said. Hadn't he counted to one, Nagayoshi had already pumping her fist skywards victoriously.

"YESS!" she exclaimed.

"We'll begin tomorrow."

Nagayoshi ear-to-ear smile shriveled and dropped into gaping. "Tomorrow? I wanna start today! C'mon, Oniisan, teach me today!" she pleaded, pulling Kakuzu's red clouded cloak forcefully.

"I mean it when I said tomorrow." Kakuzu answered stoically. "Relax, Nagayoshi, there's still four days before your third year starts!"

"Meany…" Nagayoshi pouted, crossing her arms.

"Whiny." Kakuzu countered, nudging Nagayoshi's head using his index finger teasingly. Kakuzu stretched his arms afterwards. "Well, it's almost sundown. We better get back and have something to eat." Kakuzu put on his disguise mode and grabbed Nagayoshi's arm, seeing that the eight-year-old was still cranky and threatened to stay on the training ground even after the sun rises again. "Quit being a kid."

"I am a kid."

Kakuzu rolled his eyes and kept dragging Nagayoshi to the town. The lights were lit on, creating the dim yet warm aura to the streets. The adoptive siblings passed the restaurant block and just on time, Nagayoshi's stomach growled. Pretty loud, even. Kakuzu turned towards her awkwardly and the girl stared at him pleadingly and desperately.

_Don't tell me… Oh God, don't tell me—don't tell me—don't tell me—don't—_

"Oniisan, can we eat outside tonight?" Nagayoshi demanded, rubbing her stomach.

Kakuzu rubbed his back pocket, where his wallet was, and his eyes scrutinized over the various types of restaurants and bars. He knew it was too late to cook, but he dared not waste his money. Yet again, he was being dishonest with himself. He was actually quite hungry too. He would like to eat something decent. After long seconds of thinking, hunger won—much to his dismay.

"Oh well, I guess we can eat something else tonight." he said, rubbing the back of his head. While Nagayoshi did her victory dance, Kakuzu quickly searched for the cheapest dining place of all. All that caught his attention was the takoyaki restaurant. "Let's eat in that place. It's been a long time since the last time I ate an octopus."

"Yay! You know, Akito-chan likes to take takoyaki to school! Nice choice, Oniisan!" Nagayoshi praised him, tapping him on the back.

"But I warn you: no more than two portions." Kakuzu said. Nagayoshi gulped at the threatening manner of speaking. She better obey; Kakuzu was never a friendly person when it came to money and reducing its rate.

Nagayoshi felt she was in heaven as soon as spice and seafood attacked her nostrils. She couldn't wait to eat one. The ones Akito brought to school were so delicious. She couldn't wait to taste the fresh-from-the-heat ones.

"Naga-chan!" someone called her.

She knew that call from anywhere. Akito was there; what a coincidence!

"Hey, Akito-chan!" Nagayoshi waved at her and rushed towards her seat. There, she sat with a man around his forties. Nagayoshi assumed he was Akito's father.

"You're having dinner here, Naga-chan?" Akito asked gleefully.

"Yep! Me and my brother had just got back from sparring." Nagayoshi answered. She looked back at Kakuzu with a wide smile.

"Well, then why don't you and your brother sit here with us? Surely, the merrier the better." Akito's father offered the adoptive siblings. Akito looked at them hopefully, wishing they would sit with them and eat together. Her father added, "And since the young lady is my daughter's best friend, it's only polite of me to treat the both of you."

_Saved!_ Kakuzu squealed mentally. But, for the sake of humbleness and for covering his real crook self, he said, "Oh, you don't really have to…"

"Ah, relax! A friend of my daughter is my friend. Sit down, please. I insist." Akito's father offered politely. Kakuzu had no choice but oblige (although in reality, he wouldn't even hesitate).

Kakuzu sat across Akito's father while Nagayoshi sat across Akito herself. He only exchanged glances and small smiles at each other while the girls talked about their holidays. It was Akito's father who then asked Kakuzu, "So, young man, are you a ninja as well?"

Kakuzu's senses tingled. He didn't show it clearly but he obviously felt something dangerous around him. He nodded nonetheless, "I am a ninja."

"From what village?"

"Takigakure, sir."

"You left your village. Any reasons you can tell me?"

"Our parents are part of a nomadic clan. I just happen to live long enough in Taki to become a ninja. Moreover, I was graduated quite early and succeed easily in the chuunin exam a year after." Kakuzu answered flawlessly. In order to cover up even his slightest clue of nervousness, he courteously drank his green tea.

"A nomadic clan? Hmm, I heard of that kind of clan before. Then I suppose you're quite of a prodigy, are you not?" Akito's father asked still. His smile still curved on his mouth.

"I suppose."

"And…where are your parents now?"

"They were…deceased…" Kakuzu lowered his head, making an impression that he was sad of that nonexistent loss. "We were attacked by a group. My parents sacrificed themselves to protect me and my sister. I was able to finish the rest of the attackers, though."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry. We have each other." Kakuzu's mouth stretched outwards, giving the middle-aged man an independent smile. This time, Kakuzu countered, "How about yourself, sir. Are you a ninja?"

"Of course. My family has been following the ninja way for generations, of course I'm a ninja. In fact, I'm captain of the ANBU squad."

ANBU? Kakuzu's heart banged at his ribcage once when he heard that fact. He tried to keep his muscle relaxed. Akito's father is an ANBU and it would be dangerous if he showed a little apprehension even by adding the tension in his muscles. He expanded his eyes, both truthfully and as part of the act, "Captain of the ANBU? Wow, now that's unexpected. You look so much like a regular guy right now."

Akito's father chuckled heartily, "I'm having a day off, that's why."

Before Kakuzu could ask a little more thing about Akito's father, the takoyaki was served. For the sake of politeness, they ate silently. While Kakuzu ate in moderate speed, his sister wolfed down the meat dumplings. Her friend giggled at her greediness while Kakuzu just sighed.

As soon as they finished having their dinner, they parted. Nagayoshi waved at her friend and so did Akito. Kakuzu nodded at the middle-aged man and beckoned Nagayoshi to come along. While the brother and sister walked, the father and daughter watched them disappear in the street lights.

"So that's the friend you've been talking about." Akito's father broke the silence.

Akito nodded. "She's good, you know, Dad. You should see her fight in last year's final exam! She was so cool! She fought against Umasaki!"

"And who won?"

"I don't know. It was times-up already. But I think they're even."

Akito's father nodded understandingly. Then he watched the siblings again; at that distance, they look as small as miniatures. "But she's not in good hands." he mumbled. Akito looked at her father with perplexity but her father smiled at her and took her back home.

**|-oOo-|**

Nagayoshi was jumping up and down, overjoyed for learning the _Bunshin no Jutsu_ earlier than her school. Kakuzu had to hold down her head in order to stop her from jumping up and down as it annoyed him. Nagayoshi did stop jumping, but she still couldn't stop herself from grinning.

"Alright, as I promised, today I will teach you how to make a bunshin of your own." Kakuzu began.

"HOORAY!"

"Shut up!" Kakuzu snapped and the girl did, though still smiling. He cleared his throat, "It's pretty simple: all you need to do is to focus your chakra on the centre, just like from what you learn…a couple of years ago. Now since you got that covered, all you need to learn is the hand seal."

"Oh, just like the thing you do every time you change yourself young?"

"Exactly. Now since Bunshin No Jutsu is quite a simple jutsu, all you need to do is to shape your hand like this." Kakuzu demonstrated by pressing his hands together and his fingers curled into a certain shape. Nagayoshi carefully put them together like how Kakuzu showed her. She looked back and forth at her hands and his; when she felt like it was the same, she nodded and grinned. Kakuzu nodded. No problem so far. "Don't push too much chakra. Just try to make one copy first. Let me show you. _Bunshin No Jutsu!_" Out of thin air, the splitting image of Kakuzu spawned. They look at each other wordlessly before the real one said, "Now you try."

Nagayoshi nodded and said, "_Bunshin No Jutsu!"_ The similar thing happened to Nagayoshi and on her right side, appeared her exact copy. Nagayoshi looked at her copy curiously, lifting her arm and slapped her face softly. "Awesome! You look just like me! Wow! High five!" Due to the personality resemblance, the clone happily high-fived the original Nagayoshi. "Ha! This is easier than I thought!"

"Well, you're blessed with a beginner's luck." said the clone Kakuzu before he disappeared in a puff of smoke as the real Kakuzu called back the chakra charge inside him.

"Bunshin is crucial to every ninja. It's most multi-purpose amongst other jutsus since you're going to need them for decoying, spying, group fighting assistant, or—in the most ridiculous scenario—be your date by combining it with _Henge No Jutsu_. There are still many uses of clones and you can only learn it from experience. Now…how about you make two at the same time?"

Nagayoshi found no significant difficulty in making clones. In fact, out of anything in the ninja technique, probably making clones was the only thing where Kakuzu heard less whine coming out of her mouth. This made Kakuzu extremely pleased—though being a stoic type of person he was, he never really showed the extremity of his pride. He only nodded approvingly or lightly praised his sister's success.

In less than two weeks, Kakuzu had already begun the lesson of mass fighting. The first week, each of them made ten clones and they all fight against each other. Then the next weeks, they would add another five until they decided not to make more than twenty five as they would cause war-like raucous to the village's harmony. Nagayoshi had to admit that by fighting in the same number, she had fewer burdens. However, the downside of making clones before or during a fight was that she had to share her original amount of chakra. Some of the clones may get more but some would get too less that they would dissipate as soon as they got hit. Kakuzu did inform her that she had more chakra than most ninjas in general but when it comes to sharing, it was still no easy thing to do. She had no idea how Kakuzu could remain energetic even when he had made two dozens of clones.

It was decided that Nagayoshi can only make up to thirteen clones—in her prime condition. Any numbers bigger than that or any condition less good than that, then she will drive herself away from the highway of victory to the alleyway of loss. Kakuzu could excuse that; she was still eight and inexperienced. Her chakra will grow just like her body, mind and soul. Kakuzu didn't force her too much, but he still maintained his clone number which was currently twenty five. Predictably, Kakuzu kept holding the victory, much to Nagayoshi's dismay.

Nagayoshi sighed in frustration, causing Kakuzu to turn his head slowly towards her even though he had a pretty good picture of where the conversation would point up to. "Why do I always lose against you? It's not fair." she complained, cupping a little of her face in her palm when the siblings were at home. Kakuzu tried not to roll his eyes but his guess was right.

"Be patient, Nagayoshi. One day, you'll win eventually." Kakuzu answered calmly.

"You always say 'Be patient' and it starts to irritate me." Nagayoshi huffed. She refused when Kakuzu offered her a cup of tea.

Kakuzu put his cup; now it was his turn to sigh. "Hey, listen, I was once a kid like you too, you know. I used to be the loser too and always complained almost about anything. But in the end, all those whining are worthless once you've grown and had fought against many opponents. See, you're still a ninja school student. A smart one you might be, but that still doesn't hide the fact that you're not mature enough."

"I lived in the streets and I stole food and money from other people. Isn't that experience enough?" Nagayoshi retorted.

"No. It's not. Only a little. You may have the knowledge of the real cruel world but it's only a small part of it." Kakuzu replied back.

"Only a small part of it? Oniisan, don't be stupid! I know pain; I know love; I know struggle; I know guilt; I know regret; I know loss. What else that I don't know?" Nagayoshi snapped. Kakuzu grimaced at the rising of her voice. The girl's face tensed more when Kakuzu shook his head slowly.

"Like I said: there are many things in this world you don't know yet. What you felt was only the bad part of it. You haven't felt the other bad parts and most of the good parts. Even I still had some missing experiences." Kakuzu patted the girl's head, seeing that her eyes were scorching in potentially dripping hot tears. "You still have a long way to go, kid."

Nagayoshi raised her sight; her eyes caught the glimpse of Kakuzu's arm stitches. Through causing Kakuzu's goose bumps to stand, she caressed the thick black threads gently. This was the third time did she ever touch the stitches on his arm. He had removed her hand on the first two attempts but this time, he decided to let her finger them. "Looks like I haven't experience this, huh?"

"Hopefully you won't have to. I didn't say you have to feel all of them."

**|-oOo-|**

This year, apparently, Nagayoshi did more learning with Kakuzu rather than with the subjects her school taught. This year, the third year, they were introduced to new formulas for math. When a student asked, Shuugei-sensei answered that this subject was important for making a weapon of their own. They were also introduced to chemistry where students the right chemicals for making basic poison antidote. The practical subject was _Kawarimi_ and Kakuzu need not to teach that since he had already taught _Bunshin_. _Bunshin_ can cover the use of _Kawarimi_. He even thought that _Kawarimi_ wasn't so important.

While the school taught Nagayoshi what was stated above, Kakuzu kept expanding the demonstration of mass fighting. Once again with the thirteen versus twenty. Day by day, Kakuzu could feel that Nagayoshi had learned his signature move and had experimented with many methods to take him down. At some times, he almost fell but he quickly balanced himself and attack back at Nagayoshi. The same went for Nagayoshi: Kakuzu had recorded her signature moves and every day, Nagayoshi was compelled to make a new move. There was one time where their fight ended up even. Once, but they agreed it was quite of a breakthrough.

The sparring day was reduced to three days a week until Kakuzu was ready to teach the final lesson in which he refused to tell just yet. The reason of the sparring time reduction was also caused by the more theoretical lessons that were given by the school. Nagayoshi, liked it or not, had to spend more time at home, memorizing and revising. Sometimes, she had to ask a thing or two to her adoptive brother. Kakuzu surely still remembered Pein's orders; he would help Nagayoshi in any way and make her a prodigy.

Thinking of Akatsuki, Kakuzu sometimes wondered what the other Akatsuki were doing. Especially his partner—how was he and what has he been doing? He had been inactive for a pretty long time and only received updates about the arrival of new members or death of existing members. Other than that…none.

Not like he cared about them. Actually, he kind of liked this inactivity.

"Something muddled your mind." an old woman barged Kakuzu's tranquil promenade during one fine afternoon where he did not need to spar with Nagayoshi. Not expecting her interjection, Kakuzu was startled when she talked. The old woman was dressed in dull grey robe; her head was covered with an oversized hood, concealing her face from Kakuzu's tall point of view. Kakuzu (in his disguised mode) squinted charily. Seeing that she was sitting in a lonely alleyway, Kakuzu's suspicion on the woman's presence grew.

"Sorry, but I can't give you anything." Kakuzu replied quickly and was about to step ahead.

"You can't or you _don't_ _want_ to?" the woman asked again, effectively causing Kakuzu to halt in his steps again.

"Just what do you want from me?" Kakuzu asked hissing. He cautiously drew out a kunai out of his weapon pouch. "I don't care if you're worthless. I'm going to kill you if you say something that offends me." he snarled.

"Then will you kill me if I say that when your pennies drop then your responsibility needs to be preserved?" asked the woman. Kakuzu could feel some air of arrogance from her voice but he was too occupied with her statement.

"Are you telling me there's a hole in my pocket? Stop joking around, old hag."

"Don't call me old hag. Have you ever checked the calendar?"

Kakuzu was enraged and he threw his kunai at her. The kunai stabbed the wooden back of the bench the woman sat on, but not her flesh. Kakuzu grunted indignantly; he missed.

"Better teach her something easy yet strong. It will help her a lot for even the farthest of futures." she said, somewhere behind Kakuzu.

Kakuzu turned around briskly, "What the fuck are you talking about, you—hey, where did she…?" Kakuzu looked left and right, front and back, even up and down to see where had the old woman gone to. Much to his confusion, he couldn't sense her anymore. Come to think of it, he didn't even sense her around on the first place. "I must be hallucinating." he mumbled to himself, massaging his eyebrows. However, the old woman's last message clung strongly to his brain, somehow.

Something strong yet easy. Wait…was she even talking about Nagayoshi? How did she even know he was teaching Nagayoshi? Was she a stalker or was she an impersonating ANBU?

No, she can't be an ANBU. Kakuzu had been dealing with ANBUs for decades and he knew perfectly that even the finest ANBU couldn't cover his/her presence. That woman…she was invisible to human sensory. A ghost? Nah, Kakuzu doesn't believe in ghosts. And even if it were a genjutsu, he would've known and should have wear off by the time he arrived home. Or should it…?

"Yo, Oniisan!" Nagayoshi greeted him once he reached the bedroom/living room. There he did not just found his sister but his sister's opponent on last year's final exam, Umasaki. And the two girls were studying together. "Oh, Uma-chan here is coming for study chemistry together." she added and Umasaki nodded courteously towards Kakuzu.

"Oh…well…" Kakuzu sighed, "Study hard, you two. I'm just gonna sit here." Kakuzu said, sitting on the small terrace of the house. He couldn't release his _Henge_ mode or else his secret would be revealed to someone else unwanted in his scheme.

Nagayoshi tilted her head and walked closer to Kakuzu. "Something wrong, Oniisan?" she asked.

"Nah, it was nothing. There was just something really weird happened on my way here." Kakuzu answered.

"What is that?"

"You're too young to know, kid. You won't understand."

Nagayoshi pouted, "You're so unfair."

Kakuzu sighed and looked at her despairingly, "Do we have to go over this again?"

"Fine…fine…I'll go studying." she replied, rolling her eyes heavenward as she walked back to the spot where Umasaki was. She sat and began fumbling her notebook. While she conferred about chemical reaction, Umasaki spaced out by staring at the short-haired girl. She snapped out when Nagayoshi waved her hand in front of her face. "Uma-chan, you okay?"

Blinking several times, Umasaki nodded quickly. "Oh, yeah. Nagayoshi…" she called, rather meekly. Kakuzu turned a little to see and observe their activity. It may or may not out of curiosity or Kakuzu's ever-arousing parental side. "I was just wondering if you would…er…practice taijutsu with me tomorrow."

Both Nagayoshi and Kakuzu's eyes distended; for once Nagayoshi would practice with someone else other than Kakuzu. Nagayoshi waited for further details.

"It's just…I feel like you're the most suitable opponent I know right now. Will you? I promise I won't go berserk like last time during the final exam."

Nagayoshi nodded her head and smiled widely as usual. "My pleasure! I'm also tired sparring with Oniisan all the time!"

Kakuzu's ears pricked. _This kid is testing my patience…_ he hissed mentally. His eyes met Nagayoshi who stared at him like a fox. That just successfully ruffled his feathers.

**|-oOo-|**

He felt like he had to come along with the girls and watch them sparring. He liked their fight last time; it was breathtaking, for serious. Now he witnessed them blowing kicks and punches again. This time, they even use weapons and _Kawarimi_ several times which means their combat was upgraded by a level. Kakuzu wouldn't want to miss the time where they fight with ninjutsu. That would be too interesting to miss.

Still, Kakuzu was bothered by one fact. What made Umasaki so strong even with that seemingly lack of muscles? Well, she did look slightly lumpier than last time. But still…he wanted to know. She couldn't be using booster pills, right? It wasn't illegal since many jonins use them in the most critical situations. But she—a child, barely a teenager—she was able to punch so hard even with those skinny arms of her. Perhaps…genetics? Even genetics seemed impossible, though it was the closest answer.

Umasaki gave a roundhouse kick, aiming for Nagayoshi's head but the tomboy girl managed to duck down and, with her hands and arms sustaining her weight, she thrust her legs and gave a kick square on Umasaki's stomach. Hard, but not hard enough to cause internal bleeding. Quickly, before Umasaki rise up, Nagayoshi held down her shoulders and stick a kunai dangerously close to her throat.

The dark-skinned girl gulped and hissed. She raised her hands in defeat and the kunai harmlessly released her neck. With a grin Nagayoshi helped her stand. Seeing her grin so wide, Umasaki couldn't help but smile along. She liked Nagayoshi; she was an interesting individual for her. Not only that she didn't shun her because of her rough looking and her so-called soulless eyes, she actually wanted to be her friend. Umasaki had never been treated like that, not with her current status which all villagers know. Nagayoshi was perhaps the first person she ever trusts on.

"Thank you, Nagayoshi. It was a great spar." Umasaki said. Despite her outer looks, her voice sounded almost the contradictory. "I hope we can do this again sometime later."

"Sure! I'd be happy!" Nagayoshi replied gleefully. "How about next week?"

Umasaki's lime green eyes glinted in anticipation and she nodded, almost too quickly. "Of course, yes! I'd love to!" Then the light faded out as she stared at the ground meekly. Nagayoshi bent down to catch her eyes. "But…would it be okay?"

"Oh, if you're worrying about my Oniisan, it won't be a problem. He knows I need a new sparring partner, right?" with the same fox smile, she turned to Kakuzu who glared daggers at her. She ignored that with no sweat.

"Not that…your friends. What if they…if they…don't like me? The other kids don't." she asked timidly. Nagayoshi unbend herself and stared at Umasaki, complete bemusement dressed her face. Where had the hard-core Umasaki had gone? Where did those razor-sharp green glances that made Nagayoshi shivered when she first saw it hid? She looked utterly different; like wearing a mask. The cold, heartless mask donned to school while the real face was…here…right now. Or was it the other way around? No, no; this _IS_ Umasaki's real face.

"They'll understand, Uma-chan. If they don't, I'll make them. I don't think there's anything wrong with you; you're just like anyone else." Nagayoshi said, putting one hand on Umasaki's shoulder. She smiled, not as wide but twice as emotional.

From afar, Kakuzu witnessed and heard everything. His eyes half-lidded in contemplation. Nagayoshi said something almost similar to him and somehow what she said to him had a lot more meaning than what she said to Umasaki. He didn't know why; maybe because his face is more…awkward than Umasaki? Nagayoshi would snap at him if he called himself ugly or scary again. He thought she lied so that she wouldn't have to taste his rage but it turned out that he was wrong. But how could she accept his disfigured face so easily? Again, it was so alien for him, even after two years.

Kakuzu's senses tingled and he braced himself. A few seconds later, five ANBUs landed behind Umasaki. Tensely, he watched them and what they were about to do. They seem to be coming with no harm intentions; but they were ANBUs—their looks tricked more than their speech.

"Umasaki-sama, your father needs you. You are needed to be at home this instant." said the one with an owl mask. He reached out a hand politely for Umasaki to take.

Glumly, Umasaki nodded before waving Nagayoshi farewell. Together with the ANBUs, Umasaki parted. Nagayoshi shouted, "Don't forget next week!" and watched them hopped from roof to roof with a softer smile on her face. She noticed her brother stood beside her, looking at the same direction.

"You've gotten pretty close with her." Kakuzu remarked.

"She's not bad, you know. She just seems to glare at everybody but she actually doesn't like to be avoided. I know that because I asked her straight." Nagayoshi replied, crossing her arms behind her head.

"You did?"

Nagayoshi nodded. "The kids shun her because they think she's a snob. But when I ask Akito about the exact details, no one never really has spoken to her because most of the time she would be at home. So I was like thinking, 'Then where did the kids get the idea that she's a snob?' so then after that final exam, I sit with her during lunch and we talk a lot of things!" she answered, smile crept up her mouth as she told the story.

"Alright. But what's the ANBU doing here just now?"

"Don't you know, Oniisan? Umasaki is the Raikage's youngest niece."

Kakuzu turned briskly, astounded of the fact. "The Raikage's niece? You gotta be kidding!" When Nagayoshi shook her head, confirming her previous statement, Kakuzu scratched his head. "Huh…then she should be more nourished than that."

"What does that mean?"

"She needs to eat more. Tell her that. I can almost see her bones through that skin."

**|-oOo-|**

"Naga-chan!" Akito bleated as she sat herself on her seat in class, next to Nagayoshi. The tomboy girl turned to her indifferently, chewing an apple she brought to school in case she was hungry—which she was, currently. Akito pouted and heatedly whispered to her long friend, "Why do you spend more time with Umasaki than us? Aren't we your friends anymore, huh?"

"Akito-chan, don't be so mean to her!" Nagayoshi scolded, also in whispers. She was thankful that Umasaki was five rows in front of her. "I know she's the Raikage's niece, but that doesn't mean she's bad. I know her quite well, so you can't argue with me." Nagayoshi's nails dug into the apple's skin as she spoke.

"She came to your house yesterday, didn't she?" Masao asked, joining their little whisper-in-the-back session. He was not one to gossip behind people's back, but for this case, somehow he needed to get involved. His face didn't really show much protesting, unlike Akito, but Nagayoshi could feel his insecurity.

"You guys are ridiculous! I tell you, there's nothing wrong with her! If you can't believe me, then I'm gonna make her sit with us at lunchtime." Her eyebrows furrowed looking at their stiff faces. "Seriously, guys. Umasaki is just a normal girl like us. You guys are the ones who made her look scary. She's actually quite shy." Then her smile returned; softer than usual, but she knew it would work and convince her friends to open up their mind. "Trust me."

Akito couldn't believe that Nagayoshi did actually brought Umasaki to sit with them during lunch. She immediately noticed though; Umasaki was cowering behind Nagayoshi's back. The prospect was slightly beyond her imagination. Indeed Nagayoshi was right: Umasaki was actually shy. Her harsh look was probably because got that from her uncle's lineage. That or it may also because of her thick dreadlocks. But those exteriors were easily penetrated by Nagayoshi. Nobody knew how.

"What do you have for lunch, Uma-chan?" Nagayoshi asked. Her eyes widened seeing that she only brought a small lunch box.

"Sushi." she answered shortly. To clarify, she opened her lunch box and showed the content. There were sushi—one of the expensive food in the world—but there were only four and their size was barely the same size as normal adult hands.

"Only that?" Nagayoshi asked again, eyebrows unevenly slanted. Somewhat afraid to admit, Umasaki scratched the side of her face. "Does that really satisfy you?"

"Uh…not really, actually. But I'm afraid if I eat too much, I'll become fat." Umasaki answered timidly.

Nagayoshi was about to say something; to say what Kakuzu told her yesterday, but Akito cut her off, "I don't see how you can be fat with that much food. You should eat more, Umasaki. Anyway, you're about to be a kunoichi! You can have a stronger punch or kick if you eat more. Here, have some of mine."

Nagayoshi's eyes ignited with a spark as well as Umasaki's. Reluctantly, she took a little of Akito's lunch and inserted it to her mouth. Once she gulped, Nagayoshi suddenly began to giggle. Her three friends stared at her as if she was losing her mind or she was mysteriously tickled by microscopic furry entity. She pointed at Umasaki, still giggling, "Ha-ha! Uma-chan's face is red!"

"Well, she likes your mom's cooking, Akito-chan." Masao added, following Nagayoshi's giggling fit.

"I know she would. Nobody hates my mom's cooking." Akito giggled as well. The three best friends then filled their lunch time with soft, non-hysterical laughter. It only took a few seconds before Umasaki followed them too, although her laughter was suppressed than the three.

Yep, the trio has become a quartet.

* * *

**It's so HARD to finish this one. Seriously. I have a big writer's block and I'm out of data. I don't know what else to put in the school subjects. Kakuzu had basically taught Nagayoshi everything earlier than the school. Huh…time to consult with a friend again. I'm getting impatient. The time where Nagayoshi is introduced to Akatsuki is getting closer!**

**I know it's hopeless, but…I can always ask for a review or two, right?**

**_Next: Kakuzu finally teaches Nagayoshi a thing that every ninja must be able to do._**

**EDIT [9/12/2011]: Thanks to Kishimoto's late revelation that Raikage 3 is Raikage 4's dad, now I have to make some changes. Now Umasaki is no longer the Raikage's daughter, but his niece instead. If she were still his daughter, then there will be no use for adopting Killer Bee. Same changes is done to other chapters containing this fact.**


	7. Year 4

**Chapter 6: Year 4**

"Hiyah!" Umasaki growled as she landed a clasped-hands blow towards Nagayoshi. The androgyny girl did a somersault backwards, avoiding the fatal boom resulting from Umasaki's meteor-like hit. It still amazed Nagayoshi herself as on how she could survive those fatal blows almost quite easily as if she was avoiding mere thrown shuriken. Throughout the years, Umasaki had gained weight—in a good way. She looked healthier and she didn't look so scary anymore (at least, that was what her classmates said). Indeed she had a lot of attitude change, all thanks for befriending Nagayoshi and her 'celebrity' best friends. She also spent more time outside her house and chose to spar with Nagayoshi.

Nagayoshi dashed at her, pumping her fist. Umasaki was too late to notice the attack and her face got hit really hard. She fell to the ground and Nagayoshi used this chance to pounce at her. But Umasaki was not yet defenseless; she grabbed Nagayoshi on the sleeve and slammed her up above her head and around till she hit the ground back first. The androgyny girl let out a restrained yowl and rolled over before Umasaki landed yet another blow.

Nagayoshi rolled over again and when she lied on her belly, Umasaki used that chance to give a kick to the chin. Nagayoshi managed to block the teeth-shattering kick, but still got the impact as her whole body got plunged backwards and she found herself lying on the ground on her back again. Umasaki loomed over her figure. Grimacing, Nagayoshi uttered, "Oh okay…I lose…"

"No way!" Akito exclaimed from afar. She, Masao, and Kakuzu had been watching them exchanging those punches and kicks for the last twenty minutes. While Kakuzu had gotten used to see her sister got kicked pounded severely, her two best friends almost freaked out when they first saw the sparring together. Akito ran to the once combating girls and Masao followed. Kakuzu remained under the tree's shade.

It had been long ever since the last time he sparred with Nagayoshi herself. He noticed the girl had done really well. Her speed was improving in every single fight. It was only time till she learned how to use her natural element which was lightning. There had also changes in their once private sparring. At first, only Umasaki discovered her strict training but now her two long best friends found out too—though not through every detail. Kakuzu and Nagayoshi only said they spar everyday but only for a couple of hours, hiding the true fact that they worked out for five hours straight. Now that his job was slightly relaxed, he could go on to bounty hunting again, replenishing their depleting fund supply. Of course, he didn't trust Nagayoshi to live by herself so that was why he assigned his earth clone to watch over her. He took only two-time bounty hunting last year. Since the prizes were hundreds of thousands even millions, he didn't much to fund his and her daily supplies. Although, Kakuzu found it irresistible to let go a wanted poster. He felt…guilty ignoring most of them.

"You never lost, Naga-chan! What is wrong with you?!" Akito asked. Sometimes her over-worried questions could overwhelm Nagayoshi. She knew she only acted motherly, but it had to have a limit.

"It's no big deal, Akito-chan. Uma-chan is a little energetic today." Nagayoshi answered, suppressing an annoyed sigh.

Umasaki rubbed the back of her head, "Well, I am. My uncle showed me an awesome jutsu yesterday and he said he was going to teach me that jutsu tomorrow. So…you know…I can't wait!" she answered merrily. Her shyness had dissipated throughout the times as her bond with Nagayoshi and her friends grew closer.

"Ooh! You're so lucky, Uma-chan! My father is going to teach me one family jutsu but he said I'll need to wait till my ninth birthday next month." Akito said. "Masao-kun, your parents teach you anything?"

Masao stared at them blankly for a few short seconds. At which point his silence made the older man narrowed his eyes. Finally, he answered, "No. Nothing at all. They are more to taijutsu, anyway."

"Huh? Is that possible?" Akito asked.

"There are some ninjas who are only excelling in taijutsu. The cause of most cases is because the ninja has an insufficient level of chakra. It doesn't mean he can't stand on trees or water though. It's just not enough for him to use ninjutsu or genjutsu." Kakuzu answered.

"Wow, Kakuzu-san, you know a lot! No wonder Nagayoshi becomes so smart!" Akito praised with awe. Behind all the layers of holographic chakra display, Kakuzu was smirking smugly. Nagayoshi, on the other hand, was not smirking at all, let alone feeling smug. "Now I want to spar with Naga-chan! You look so strong, I think you're going to make a great opponent."

"Why not? We can spar again next—"

"Sorry, but she can't." Kakuzu interjected. His sudden intervention brought protests to two of the kids, including his own sister. "I need her for a…uh…family business. It's a pretty long business, so I'm afraid she won't be able to spar together like this for a few months ahead."

_Family business? _Nagayoshi wondered. She mentally decided not to say anything about it and acted naïve and curious. The curiosity, though, was genuine.

"Ah…that's too bad, Naga-chan. I was really looking forward."

"Don't worry, Akito-chan. Who knows? Maybe we will have a great fight when we're both strong already." Nagayoshi replied, smiling.

Nagayoshi's friends went home soon afterwards. The three, whose homes were closer to each other, waved back at Nagayoshi. She returned their wave gleefully and then she followed Kakuzu's steps. She sometimes wondered why they have to live farther than everyone else but after she thought about it over, she immediately found the best possible answer. That is: the price. Houses on the outskirts were cheaper than in the urban areas. That sounds very much like Kakuzu, eh?

"So, Oniisan, what's the family business? Does it have to do with bount—mmf!" Nagayoshi's words were blockaded with Kakuzu's large hand and a soft 'ssh' hissed from his mouth. Nagayoshi nodded slowly and the hand removed.

"Tomorrow." he murmured and grabbed Nagayoshi's wrist. He picked up his pace slightly, compelling Nagayoshi to jog in order to follow him and his big steps. Kakuzu was hiding something, Nagayoshi realized. Most of the time, Kakuzu would openly discuss about anything to her, but it seemed the same thing didn't work out this time. There was something in this so-called 'family business' that made Kakuzu so uncomfortable to talk about it like usual. With all respect, Nagayoshi obeyed.

**|-oOo-|**

"Hmm?" Nagayoshi found something out of ordinary in her locker. An envelope and its color was soft yellow. She carefully picked it out and the first thing she searched for was the sender. Blank. The only thing written on the envelope was _'To Nagayoshi'_ in a writing that was anything but fancy—obviously a boy's writing. "What the heck is this?" she murmured derisively. Unknown to her, two pairs of feminine eyes lurked behind her. One was bland but curious; the other one was curious but nonplused.

"Eep! Naga-chan got a love letter!" Akito squealed, almost too loudly. Nevertheless, it still sent a mountainous amount of jolt to Nagayoshi's nerve systems. The androgyny girl jumped and she might have fortuitously fallen into her locker.

"Akito-chan!" Nagayoshi bellowed slightly in a hush. "Do you have to be so loud?!"

Akito giggled, "I can't resist!"

"Who send it?" Umasaki asked, although surprised by Akito's shrill squeal, she didn't give it much attention.

"Have no idea. I thought I'm just an outcast that hangs out with famous kids." Nagayoshi answered, sarcasm in her voice.

"Looks like you're not much of an outcast anymore. Isn't that good?"

"No." she answered dryly. "The attention is killing me."

"Aw…Naga-chan is always so mean!" Akito bleated teasingly, hugging Nagayoshi in her arms forcefully. "I'm surprised there's still a boy that likes you." She sniggered as Nagayoshi pushed away her arms off of her neck and proceeded to the canteen after grabbing her lunch pack—which was the actual thing that she wanted to take from her locker.

"I'm gonna read it at home." she said.

As the three girls arrived at the canteen, Masao had already saved them a table in which the four of them sat together, as always. Masao greeted them with his trademark soft smile. The red-brown-haired girl's blood rushed to her face as soon as she saw that smile, while her friends smiled back casually.

"What do you bring today, Nagayoshi-chan?" Masao asked.

"As usual!" she answered with a prideful ear-to-ear grin.

The boy smiled, "Apples. I should've known."

"Hey…but they're enough for a short break. I'll eat proper food once I got home, before Oniisan take me to that 'family business' he said about yesterday." Nagayoshi said as she took her first bite on the fistful-sized apple.

"Look! My mom cooked me okonomiyaki!" Akito announced merrily. She opened her lunch box and Umasaki was immediately attracted by the content.

"Do you know what that 'family business' is about, Nagayoshi-chan?" Masao asked.

Nagayoshi shook her head, swallowing a chunk, "Nope, I don't even have the foggiest clue. Oniisan didn't want to talk about it. But he promised he'll tell me today, after school."

Dark clouds surrounded Akito. Her existence was like a ghost all of a sudden and she disliked it—no, loathed it. The grip on her lunch box tightened; should she be as strong Kakuzu, she might've ruptured her plastic lunch box. Still clouded, she grabbed her chopsticks and soundlessly began to eat while her friends shared stories. She was not a ghost only to Umasaki's eyes. The dark girl's lime green eyes glanced once in a while, followed by gradually drooping eyebrows.

**|-oOo-|**

It annoyed Nagayoshi so immensely in view of the fact that Kakuzu had chosen to zip his mouth the entire trip to a place further away from their usual sparring grounds. Nagayoshi could've just stopped walking, cross her arms and demanded for answers, but seeing that Kakuzu has more physical power than her, it turned out to be useless. When Kakuzu finally pulled his brakes, Nagayoshi was too late, as a result of which, her nose bumped Kakuzu's back. They were on a meadow which Nagayoshi failed to know to exist in this village. There were no trees or houses for the next ten miles—everything was covered in knee-length carpet of green grass.

"This place is perfect." At long last, Kakuzu spoke. He dismissed his _Henge_ mode and turned to Nagayoshi who was still rubbing her nose that made an unpleasant impact with Kakuzu's spine. "Alright," Kakuzu began, ignoring Nagayoshi's pained stroking, "we can start now."

"First, tell me what's going on and why did you ignore me on our way here?" Nagayoshi quickly spat her brother with crucial questions crossly.

Kakuzu could fathom why she was upset, but it was all important for what he was about to say: "Remember when your friends shared stories about ninjutsus taught by their family? Well, that reminded me that I actually have one for you." Kakuzu said calmly, harmonizing with the rhythm of the breeze.

"You're going to teach me a jutsu?!" Nagayoshi gasped. She gaped more when Kakuzu confirmed it as true.

"Before we start, let me tell you something I realized ever since we first met." Kakuzu said; he found himself almost laughing at Nagayoshi's act of grimacing. She must've felt really guilty when she recalled those times. Thus, he continued, "I noticed that you have a uniqueness concerning lightning chakra. Remember when you nailed that guy that almost took your last breath?"

Nagayoshi nodded.

"You only touched his hand when suddenly he looked like he was electrocuted. At that point, I have been speculating that you're a lightning chakra specialist and are natural with it. It's possible that it's a bloodline limit, but we can't be sure for now. That shall be discussed later when your knowledge has expanded. Now, what I wanted to teach you is a long-ranged jutsu I've known for years. It's an A-ranked ninjutsu and, mind you: it is _not_ a toy. You use it when you're fighting against your opponents once you've become a full-pledged ninja." He raised his arms and set his hands to face each other's palm. He squished them together and nonverbally commanded Nagayoshi to pay attention as he was demonstrating the three set of hand seals slowly than usual. Nagayoshi watched closely as Kakuzu put his fingers in a different pose before a bright circular white light ignited on the center of his right palm. He directed his hand to the clearing behind him and _VRRRROOOOOMM!!_ A blast of distorted line of ray launched from Kakuzu's ignited hand. The shockwave it created knocked Nagayoshi off her feet. She gaped at the demonstrated jutsu dumbfounded.

"Eh, I shouldn't have applied ten percent of my chakra." Kakuzu commented. He turned to his sister who was struggling to regain her footing. He explained anyway, "That jutsu is called _Raihou_. It alters your chakra nature into a condensed electrical charge on your palm before you shoot it as, what it seems to me, a bunch of lightning bolts gathered and tied together in the time of your choosing. Depending on how many chakra you put, the range of its shooting will differ as well. That was ten percent of my chakra and I believe it reached five hundred meters. I haven't see how far your chakra can carry this out, but we're about to find out. So…what are you waiting for? You remember the seals, right?"

"I guess…" she muttered. She racked her brains to recall the seals Kakuzu had kindly and slowly showed her earlier. There were three, she remembered, and thus she began. Boar. Ox. Horse. She did very slowly, since she wasn't used to make hand seals yet. Her right hand ignited in the same way as Kakuzu. She extended her arm to the same direction and _BZZZT!_ It was barely twelve inches. Nagayoshi stared at her palm with one eyebrow raised before turning to her brother. "Don't laugh."

"I didn't laugh!" Kakuzu retorted.

"Your eyes do." she hissed. Kakuzu rubbed his eyes, wondering how on earth his eyes laugh. They were not designed with vocal chords!

"Okay, I _almost_ laugh. Sorry. Anyway, were you putting too little chakra?" Kakuzu asked.

"I think. I don't want it to be so loud and powerful like the one you did." Nagayoshi answered. "I'm afraid other people would notice that."

"Yeah, I guess it was too loud. But it's the Land of Lightning, for god's sake. There are always a lightning, even when the day is bright like this. Ah, how about you put about extra three percent to it? Maybe that'll give you the desired blast, not a pathetic buzz like that."

Nagayoshi nodded and tried again. Since she had memorized the hand seals, this attempt's process went three seconds faster than the first one. The palm ignited and she extended her arm. This time, it made a boom but only reached ten yards. Even with that little power, there was still a powerful shockwave. Nagayoshi had to dig one foot to the soil behind her in order to avoid knocking over. Kakuzu's eyes expanded slightly seeing the significant improvement on the tryout.

"Not bad. That was…how many percent, approximately?" Kakuzu asked.

"I think it's around five or six. What? I should put more?"

"Probably, yes. This is, after all, an offensive chakra. It was made to attack."

Suddenly, Nagayoshi clutched her right arm, wincing severely and dropped to her knees. She grunted and her grip on her arm tightened. Kakuzu quickly knelt beside her, "What's wrong?" he asked.

"My arm hurts." Nagayoshi hissed before groaning in pain.

"Give me your arm." Kakuzu said, carefully lifting Nagayoshi's arm with both of his bigger hands. Black tendrils slithered from his sleeves and curled around Nagayoshi's arm. One wrapped Nagayoshi's shoulder while the other wrapped around Nagayoshi's elbow. Slowly, Nagayoshi stopped groaning and, to her, the pain was relieved.

"Whoa, thanks, Oniisan. But…what did you…?"

"Your arm just suffered from stress, that's all. You're not used to such a big impact that is bigger than punching or kicking. My tendrils have healing properties. By wrapping around your shoulder and elbow, it acts as a support. You shall wear it for the next few months until your arm is used to it." Kakuzu explained.

"Healing properties? Is that why they're on your face and arms? To heal you?" Nagayoshi asked. She dropped her eyebrows as she saw Kakuzu diverted his gaze uncomfortably. _I should've just shut up._

"They're more like keeping me together." he answered, much to Nagayoshi's miscalculation. The older man stood up, "Come on, try again."

Nagayoshi nodded and repeated _Raihou_, adding more chakra in every try. Therefore, in every shot, the jutsu's true form began to clear. Kakuzu commanded her to keep adding more chakra so _Raihou _could complete its original purpose: to attack, and ninjas don't hesitate in attacking. By the time of the seventh try, Nagayoshi managed to shoot _Raihou_ up to twenty yards, and she was panting with satisfaction and was about to make the eighth attempt when Kakuzu's hand held one of her wrists.

"Enough." he said.

"But, Oniisan!" Nagayoshi whined and she pouted when Kakuzu shook his head.

"Enough is enough. Do this further, you might kill yourself. Chakra also determines one's life. Running out of it, and you'll never see the daylight anymore. We can continue tomorrow." Kakuzu pulled her wrist, taking her home. He released it only to change back to his disguise mode.

"Oh okay…so I really need to be careful when using my chakra."

"There you got it. Good girl!" Kakuzu teasingly ruffled Nagayoshi's hair. His hand was yanked away by Nagayoshi herself.

"So what should a ninja do when running out of chakra in the middle of a battle?" she asked.

"The first thing that you should do is to run and hide. That will recover your chakra although it'll take a long time. If you have a partner or teammates, it'll be good because they can provide back-up for you. Eating is also one way to recover chakra, but you can only do it when you can digest your food properly. In other words, you have to sit down and then eat your food. At that point, if you're unlucky, enemy would've found you and kill the living daylight out of you." Kakuzu explained.

"Ugh, that doesn't sound easy. I wish I could have a lot of chakra like you." Nagayoshi sighed, crossing her arms behind her head as she and Kakuzu strode back to their residence.

"You already have a lot of chakra." Kakuzu said, causing Nagayoshi's ears to prick. "Compared to most children, you have more chakra than normal, even from your three friends. It's not the first case; in other villages, I've seen kids whose chakra was equal to that of newbie Chuunin like you. One of my…associates in Akatsuki possesses a massive amount of chakra. Even the Leader said once that his chakra level is equal to that of a demon." Kakuzu continued.

"Whoa! Really?! Cool, I wanna meet that guy!" Nagayoshi exclaimed eagerly. Kakuzu raised an eyebrow at her vigor.

"The time will come, kiddo. Just wait for it." Kakuzu patted her head again and this time, Nagayoshi let him. She marched merrily, looking forward to see the associate Kakuzu talked about. It was at the end of the meadows did Kakuzu all of a sudden was stricken by an important notice. "Oh, Nagayoshi." he called, stopping in his tracks.

"Yes, Oniisan?"

"Don't tell your friends about _Raihou_." he said. "_Raihou_ isn't a normal jutsu to be taught to a student like you. It's because you're with me that I had to teach you this. Can you keep me that promise?"

Nagayoshi nodded. "Sure. So what should I tell them about our 'family business'?"

Nagayoshi could faintly heard Kakuzu murmured "Shit." under his breath. She waited for him to come up with something. "Just…tell them…our second cousins were suffered from a mysterious plague and we have to volunteer in taking care of them once every three days. That should do it."

"Oniisan, if there's a plague, then shouldn't some other villagers should get them too?" Nagayoshi objected.

"I don't know! You come up with something!" Kakuzu snapped.

**|-oOo-|**

Nagayoshi was _glad_ that none of her friends asked her about the so-called 'family business'. The problem was: she hadn't found an excuse. So when she met them at school and they asked nothing about her and Kakuzu, she let out a very long suppressed sigh. If only the air was colder that day, she could've made a thick mist from her breath alone.

"Why are you sighing, Nagayoshi-chan?" Masao asked, appearing suddenly beside her during a vacuum time before the lunch break ended, on the school's shooting ground. Nagayoshi jumped a little to his appearance before sighing again. "See? You're sighing."

"Eh, it was nothing. Say…where is Uma-chan and Akito-chan?" she asked. Meanwhile, her left arm swung to flip a shuriken placed between her fingers.

"In the library, borrowing some books. I'm not sure if they're going here, though." Masao said.

"Hmm? Why?" And abruptly flashbacks smacked Nagayoshi's head; as if her head was battered with a sledgehammer. Come to think of it, the reason why Umasaki and Akito didn't ask anything about her 'family business' was because she hasn't met them. Whenever they saw each other, Akito always suddenly had to go and she asked for Umasaki's help. Nagayoshi was left with a giant question mark standing on top of her short hair. Then she remembered those eyes staring at her—no. It was more like glaring. But why would she glare at her? _Was it because I can't spar with her anytime soon? Oh no…_

Masao noticed the increasing of wrinkle rate on her forehead. He opened his mouth, "Nagayoshi, are you alright?" Ho, wait a minute! That wasn't Masao's voice!

Both Masao and Nagayoshi whipped their heads to the side in which a boy taller than Masao entered the field of vision. The boy has an army-cut hair, with a zigzag lines razor on the side, just above the ears. From the remaining stubbles of hair, one could tell that this boy's hair was wooden brown. His skin was one tone darker than Nagayoshi's latte-colored skin. His eyes were bright blue, making them stand out to his dark skin and hair. His expression held less softness than what Masao had and instead, he possessed more strength and straightforwardness.

"Oh, Kamasu-senpai." Nagayoshi greeted the taller boy. He was, apparently, Nagayoshi's class senior. He was older than Nagayoshi by one year. "Why do you ask that?"

"Nah, you just didn't look so well. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine."

"Then, what happened to your arm?" Kamasu asked. He lifted Nagayoshi's right arm and inspected it.

"I just had sore muscles. It must have because I've been sparring with my friends. It'll get better." Nagayoshi answered, softly pulling her arm off of Kamasu's hand.

"That's good to hear. Oh, um, Nagayoshi," Kamasu called. Nagayoshi turned to him, indicating that she was listening. "Do you have time after school tomorrow? Just a couple of minutes?"

"Yeah, sure. What is it?"

"I have a surprise for you. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" With that, Kamasu departed, waving his hand at her. Nagayoshi waved back before turning back to Masao.

"You know him?" Masao asked.

"My house isn't far from his and we like to play soccer whenever we can. I know he's our senior, but he's really kind. He often bought me apples too." Nagayoshi answered. A faint pink tinted her cheeks once she mentioned Kamasu often bought her apples and a meek giggle resonated from her mouth. Her giggling stopped when Masao shifted in his sitting position, facing to another direction that was opposite to Nagayoshi's. The girl tilted her head in confusion and poked Masao's shoulder. "Hey, hey, Masao-kun? What's wrong with you?"

"I didn't notice your arm." he said in response. His tone of speaking descended by two or three notes as he spoke. "I'm your best friend but I didn't even realize that you're hurt."

"Aw, shucks, Masao-kun! I'm not that hurt!" Nagayoshi replied, reassuring her friend that she was indeed unharmed.

"But you threw the shuriken using your left hand."

Nagayoshi momentarily paused before she quickly answered, "I did that a lot. My brother said it's best to have both of my hands capable of shooting. It's for future scenarios, he said." It wasn't really true, though. Kakuzu never told her to be able to use both hands. Nagayoshi learned to do that by herself. She wanted to bite her own flesh now; she just lied to a friend. A friend she had known ever since the very first time she stepped into Kumogakure. How would this shape their friendship in the end? "Ma-Masao-kun…?"

"It's okay. I know you're always working hard." he said, smiling. He grabbed Nagayoshi's arm that was covered by Kakuzu's tendrils carefully so as not to hurt it. "But maybe you should try to relax sometime, you know. You make your friends worry." he continued, stroking Nagayoshi's arm softly.

"I'm sorry."

_Bump!_

The sound came from behind Nagayoshi; from the exit door. Nagayoshi whipped her head only to found long reddish brown hair flipping in a dash and gone, and Umasaki glancing awkwardly from Nagayoshi and to another person which Nagayoshi believed as, "Akito-chan!" she called. She dashed after her with Umasaki who decided to chase Akito too.

There was a short race occurring with the girls; the goal was the girl's toilet. Akito got there first, Nagayoshi second, and Umasaki last. The long haired girl locked herself inside one of the stalls. Nagayoshi banged on the door, calling her name almost frantically and pleadingly. "Akito-chan, open the door! What is up with you?! Hey! Open up! How am I supposed to know what I've done wrong if you don't tell me?"

But Akito didn't answer and instead, Nagayoshi heard sobbing coming from her. No doubt that she was feeling miserable, but Nagayoshi still didn't understand why. Why was she so angry?

"Just get away from me!!" Akito shouted at her. Her shrill voice echoed through the tiled bathroom and it hurt her eardrums. She ignored the stinging voice.

Nagayoshi sighed and forlornly walked out of the bathroom without even uttering one last word. Except, "I thought friends tell each other's problems." without realizing that she had just being a hypocrite.

**|-oOo-|**

_VRRROOOOOOMM!!!_

That was a powerful blast, Kakuzu thought, and someone may notice that power discharge. Nagayoshi had been releasing three powerful lightning blasts successfully—to successful, actually. Kakuzu couldn't tell whether she was in a high spirit or she was possessed by a god. The blast was so powerful, even this one sent Nagayoshi flying backwards. Fortunately for the androgyny, her brother was there to cushion her fall. After the impact throw, Nagayoshi panted heavily as if she had been running for thousands of miles. Her expression stiff and hard; Kakuzu immediately realize the cause and source of her overachieved success.

"We're taking a break." Kakuzu nonchalantly said. He put Nagayoshi on the ground as he too sat down on the cool long grass of the meadow. Nagayoshi was about to rise up, but his hands forced her to stay put, no matter how much she wanted to stand up. "I said, we're taking a break!" he pressed Nagayoshi's shoulder harder; it can even be considered as hydraulic-punching Nagayoshi to the ground. He knew he might be too harsh on her just now, but he knew needed to. This girl was on a loose leash.

"I'm not tired yet!" Nagayoshi protested, trying to push Kakuzu's arms off of her shoulders. She struggled, like when she was struggling to get off from him when there were seven Kakuzus pinned her to the ground. Kakuzu didn't budge and his green eyes coldly stared down at her. Those green orbs then met head-on with Nagayoshi's black ones. Black they may be, but Kakuzu detected some red in them. "Let go!"

"No." Kakuzu answered, softer than the time he scolded her. "I can't let you continue. Not like this." Kakuzu added. Nagayoshi's eyes melted before it hardened again.

"Why? Don't you want me to be strong, eh, Oniisan? Why stop me?!" Nagayoshi asked fierily. Kakuzu noticed there was more sparkle in her eyes, and those sparkles didn't represent puppy-eyed pleading. Like her tone, it was fiery to the point it was going to be watery.

Kakuzu calmly shook his head and answered, "You're unstable. It's dangerous, for the both of us." Much to his relief, Nagayoshi gave up the ghost and sat down obediently. Kakuzu shifted his position and sat beside her. He patted her head, "I never see you this emotional. Is there something wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. I just feel like shooting _Raihou_ today." Nagayoshi replied, obviously lying.

Kakuzu scoffed, "Yeah, right. You can't lie to me, kid. Tell me what's wrong. Don't tell me it's because of that cheesy love letter you got some time ago."

Nagayoshi stared up at him through the corner of her eyes. "How do you know about it?"

"I found it. I can't believe kids around your age can be so corny. I don't remember doing that when I was a kid. Anyway, is that why you're so upset?" Kakuzu asked again.

"I'm not upset."

"Don't tell me that. I know better than you do. I destroy things when I'm upset, just so you know. Your act just now almost resembled my tantrums. C'mon, just tell me. Did something happen at school?" Kakuzu waited for a respond, but Nagayoshi kept her mouth zipped. Bending one leg so he can rest one arm on his knee and held his head with the same arm, Kakuzu sighed. He then muttered, "You know, you'll feel better if you just tell me how you feel. I have no one to share it with, anyway, so your secrets are safe." He paused, not for her but for himself. Kakuzu rounded up his mind and added, "I'm your brother, aren't I?"

There was another excruciating pause that imperiled Kakuzu to his doom. He could almost see the two gates of hell and heaven waiting for him when suddenly all that ungodly visions blurred followed by impulsive and abrasive momentum knocking him over. Before he knew it, two arms that were thinner than his muscular ones wrapped around his stomach and a face was deeply buried into his chest. Kakuzu's eyes inflated big; he found himself in a…gauche situation where a girl was supposedly crying to his chest. It wasn't alien for him, only…it had been decades and he had forgotten how it felt. His fingers fidgeted, wondering of what he should do.

Nagayoshi didn't sob, he noticed, but he was quite positive the girl was dejected. He felt uncomfortable on the neck. The front of his collar was pulled up to his throat as the seconds passed until he felt he had difficulty breathing. Nagayoshi's fingers clutched his cloak so tightly from the back and she kept on pulling it. Breathing deeply, Kakuzu stroked the child's head gently. "There…there…" he muttered. "I didn't expect you to be this upset. Something big must've happened."

Nagayoshi pulled back, rubbing her eyes from the tears that leaked through her glands and eyes. "There was something…" she sniffled, "…and it has nothing to do with the love letter." she added.

Kakuzu rummaged the pocket of his pants to get Nagayoshi his handkerchief. He held it towards her and the girl took it and immediately buried her face in it. As she continuously wiped her tears or cleared her snot, she told Kakuzu what happened at school. The events where she and Akito made the least contact ever and when Akito suddenly got mad at her for a reason she didn't even know. Umasaki didn't tell her anything since she already went out of the bathroom.

Kakuzu himself never felt this sympathetic towards this girl. He perfectly understood what was going on in-between them and if he was only one level colder, he would have called this ridiculous. Well, he mentally had, but seeing those waterfalls of tears somewhat pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

Nagayoshi's crying fit ended at the twelfth minute in which she blew out the last of the snot. She sighed in content while Kakuzu sat staring at her. "Feeling better?" he asked.

"Kinda, yeah." she answered, her voice still heavy from crying. "Thanks for the hanky, Oniisan. I'll wash it for you."

"I knew from long that Akito has a certain feeling for Masao." Kakuzu said, feeling that this was the right time for him to say the truth behind today's incident.

"A feeling?" Nagayoshi asked.

"It's the same feeling like that cheesy letter you got from school. That's what she feels about that male friend of yours. But seeing Masao constantly talking to you more than to her made her jealous of you." Kakuzu continued.

"But we didn't do anything." Nagayoshi defended herself.

"I know. But to Akito, it's as if Masao doesn't even think she exists." Kakuzu tried to hide the other fact. It was hard, yet it was fun for him to do. He'd rather see Nagayoshi figure out by herself. But it didn't take long; it was as if Nagayoshi read through the deepest ocean of his mind.

"So…she thinks I like Masao-kun? Huh…come to think of it, she does stare at Masao-kun quite often." Nagayoshi said to herself. Kakuzu was amazed with her fast realization. She was nine years old, so he figured that Nagayoshi should have understood at least a little bit of a delicate emotion called love.

Kakuzu shrugged, "Most likely. And I see that look in her eyes too when you and Umasaki sparred together. To me, everything is too obvious."

"Then I should tell Akito the real thing. There's nothing going on between me and Masao-kun. We're just friends." Nagayoshi stood high-spiritedly.

_Oh, she hasn't realized all of it, then…_ Kakuzu whispered in his mind. He smirked and decided to seal his lips. Better see the drama from afar. He held her arm, "Now hold on. You can't tell her now. I believe she's crying her eyes out as we speak. Talk to her tomorrow."

"I'll do it first thing in the morning!" Nagayoshi said with the same high flaming spirit. "And after that, after school I have a promise to Kamasu-senpai!" she rubbed the back of her head bashfully.

"Ah, that boy you liked to play soccer with. What kind of promise?" Kakuzu asked.

"I promised to meet him tomorrow after school. Well, he asked me, actually." Nagayoshi answered.

At which point, Kakuzu just simply couldn't keep a straight face anymore. He snorted and chuckled lightly, causing Nagayoshi to narrow her eyes irately. She squatted in front of her brother who immediately poked her on the forehead as he kept on chuckling. "God, you kids are so funny!" he remarked between reduced laughter.

"Why are you laughing?" Nagayoshi asked.

Breathing deeply, Kakuzu regained his composure and turned to face Nagayoshi. He smirked and Nagayoshi could see it even though he had his mask on. She suddenly had a bad feeling. "You surely have no idea?" Kakuzu asked her back. The girl quickly shook her head. "He asked you to go alone, didn't he? Do you know by telling you to go alone, he meant he wanted a one-on-one chat with you?"

"Huh?!" Nagayoshi exclaimed. It amused Kakuzu seeing the sudden color flush on her face. Kakuzu chuckled again when Nagayoshi poked both of her index fingers together in a bashful manner. "I still…don't understand…" Nagayoshi muttered.

Kakuzu's smirk widened, "Kids…" he said, shaking his head slowly.

**|-oOo-|**

Akito was already in the class. She sat hunchbacked with Umasaki beside her, accompanying her. Nagayoshi peeked from the door, watching her from that distance. Her truth-telling spirits evaporated as she watched her friend sighed once in a while. She wasn't sure if her reasoning would patch up their broken friendship. Akito was usually hard to talk to. But…she made it pretty easily when she convinced her that Umasaki wasn't like what the kids think.

She clenched her fists tighter; she bit her lower lip; she crossed her fingers. Slowly, she stepped inside the yet to be inhabited classroom. It was empty enough for her to reason with Akito without interference. She was about to cower under the teacher's table when Akito glanced up and met drilled her eyes onto hers. But she pushed herself up and encouraged herself to stand up before her, stare at her eye-to-eye, and speak truth.

"I want you to listen to me." Nagayoshi said. She clenched her fists, hoping to avoid shaking when she spoke.

"Why should I listen to you?" Akito countered; apparently, her voice shook more than Nagayoshi would.

"What happened yesterday…it was a misunderstanding. You get it wrong; it wasn't like what it seemed." Nagayoshi began, but she was immediately interrupted by Akito snapping at her.

"It _was_ like what it seemed! Masao-kun liked you! He will never like me! I hate it to see him staring at you more than me. Am I…am I a bug or something?" Akito began to sob again and Umasaki was there to rub her back and gave Nagayoshi a sympathetic glance.

Nagayoshi too gave a sympathetic glance. At the same time, Kakuzu's words hummed in her mind. "I know that, but…for your information, I don't like him. Only as a friend I know ever since the first year. It is a little harsh of him to ignore you. If you want to, I can tell him not to ignore you anymore and tell him that you're feeling sad." Gently, she grasped Akito's hand and smiled softly at her, "Aren't we friends? Come on, don't cry anymore. You have to be strong if you want Masao-kun to like you."

Akito wiped her tears and struggled to smile back at Nagayoshi. "Thanks, Naga-chan… I'm sorry. Are you sure, though? I mean, you mean it when you say you don't like him?"

"I only like him as a friend, like I told you. I like someone else." she grinned. She successfully made her friend smile again only to be erased by the arrival of the spoken boy. Nagayoshi nodded to Akito, sending a telepath message saying "_Trust me with this."_

Bravely, Nagayoshi brought Masao out of the classroom. Her hard expression convinced Masao to take her seriously and it made his soft hazel eyes to expand to a point of wideness that Nagayoshi hardly see before. The eyes quickly squished down again, creating the half-lidded impression again. Nagayoshi scowled; she seemed to hurt him quite a lot, but she couldn't be sure. When she asked him, Masao shook his head and smiled. However, it wasn't the smile she knew all these years.

All of a sudden, Nagayoshi was introduced to the new family member of Fear.

Still, the feeling that she was now friends again with Akito light up the rest of the day. She was glad that she didn't have to meet Kamasu with a big scowl on her face. She didn't like it if people felt worried about her—especially Kamasu. Her friendship with Kamasu may not be as close as with Akito, Masao, and Umasaki, but she valued it nonetheless. She talked with him not so often, probably once a week, during the weekends. Her tight training schedule made it even more impossible for them to interact. But she was glad that during her off days, she could go to his house and asked for help in understanding the lessons. Being a senior to her class, Kamasu's knowledge was one step vaster than Nagayoshi's.

"Sorry, I'm late!" Nagayoshi apologized as she arrived at the back of the school building where Kamasu asked her to go to. It was tranquil back there.

"It's alright. I just got here too." Kamasu answered. His friendly smile and eyes faded for a moment as he turned his head to the side and inhaled deeply. Nagayoshi tilted her head to the side and immediately the ten-year-old boy coughed roughly. "Nagayoshi, there's something I want to tell you."

Unseen by the boy, Nagayoshi fiddled her fingers behind her back. This wasn't a normal one-to-one chat; this was…

"I'm going to try out for the graduation test soon," he began. Nagayoshi noticed his eyes moving to see things other than her face. She herself was looking at her shoes as soon as he continued. "If I graduated, I'll become a genin and will be assigned to missions. On that point, I don't think I can play with you again like we sometimes did. But, there's something I need to say before we can't see each other again." Kamasu paused again; the tendons on his knuckles were visible now as he clenched his fists tighter.

_Get on with it already! _Nagayoshi's impatient side roared. The surface conscience of her needed to bite her own tongue in order to suppress the protest from bawling. She slowly lifted her gaze up, to see his face. Crap; he was looking straight at her and her head automatically straightened up. A sub-zero drop of sweat rolled down her neck. _Hurry up…I need to go home…_

"Nagayoshi…" Kamasu spoke at last, "please go out with me."

Nagayoshi's heart banged against her ribcages and she swore one bone was in the brink of fracturing. Kamasu just asked her to go out—meaning he wanted to be her boyfriend. Nagayoshi didn't really understand that boyfriend-girlfriend thing until yesterday, right after Kakuzu laughed at her. She never knew that human life could go this extreme. Hell; this was quarter extreme! But her insides felt like self-dislodging. Now more sub-zero sweat rolled down her neck—and her forehead.

After understanding the new term, Nagayoshi was overjoyed. As of right now, her mental was screaming out loud: _YES! I want to!_ But then it was locked behind titanium bars. 50 kilograms of titanium bars. If it weren't because of Kakuzu's obviously more authoritative commands, she would have accepted it already with no delays.

But…

_"I don't allow you to go out with him." Kakuzu said. His green-in-red eyes bore at her with such intensity that Nagayoshi backed away a little. Nevertheless, she still tried to reason._

_"But why?" she demanded._

_Kakuzu shook his head. "Your training is the most important priority right now. Relationships will only slow you down and I don't want that. It's not like I want to restrain your social life; it's all for you and your future. You can't even handle Raihou right; you are still struggling with the control and stress it caused you. So mark my words and promise me." he said unwaveringly._

_Nagayoshi's shoulders slumped. Kakuzu stood in front of her and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. The girl looked up slightly, and Kakuzu said, "You're still green. Relationships like that is something too early to experience. Trust me. This brother of yours had been through a lot."_

_With a firm squeeze on her shoulders, Nagayoshi resolved, "Oh alright…"_

"I'm sorry, Kamasu-senpai." Nagayoshi answered. This time, it was Kamasu's heart that rammed against the ribcage. Let us hope that his ribcage could sustain more malevolent banging rather than Nagayoshi. "But I can't go out with you. Don't get me wrong; it's not like I hate you or anything…I just can't."

Kamasu sighed heavily, causing Nagayoshi to grimace. Quickly, Nagayoshi added, "But we still can be friends!"

The boy smiled small and chuckled, "Thanks, Nagayoshi. Well, I can't blame you if you can't. Living with a brother like that, I know what he told you without having to eavesdrop. Ah, I don't mean I hate your brother! My mom's kind of strict too so I can understand how you feel."

"Still…I feel bad." Nagayoshi replied, digging her tip of her sandals into the soil.

"Don't be." Kamasu flashed a bright grin, almost like hers, only a few millimeters smaller. Nagayoshi blinked in puzzlement, her head tilted to the side. "You'll see; when we both have become a ninja we can work together. We can even go to the same mission. It'll be so cool. Then maybe someday we can go out."

Nagayoshi blushed to the future life postulation. She hoped it could be true but was dilemmatic about it. "You look confident about it." she said, indirectly stating her opinion from the positive point of view as well.

"I ought to!" Kamasu answered. His arms crossed behind his head in a confident manner. "I believe in the future so that's why I won't give up. You should do that too, Nagayoshi."

Seeing that grin on his face, Nagayoshi was baited to grin with him. Kamasu's words comforted her topsy-turvy juvenile mind, telling her that there will be a second chance. Maybe at that time Nagayoshi would have understood the main thing about love already. And she would be independent to make her own move without Kakuzu's supervision anymore. She looked forward to that now. The newfound confidence made her smile bigger and somewhat automatically she grabbed Kamasu's hand.

"Senpai's right. It doesn't have to be today. Thanks for telling me that. Now…good luck at the graduation test. You'll see, next year I will try it out too and then I will be a Genin just like you." Nagayoshi said with that big smile of hers. Kamasu suddenly found himself steaming inside a sauna chamber.

"Thanks, Nagayoshi." he replied with a smile.

"Oh, and thanks for the letter you wrote for me." Nagayoshi added. Kamasu blinked nonplused. "That was sweet—although Oniisan kept bugging me with it ever since…"

"Whoa—whoa—whoa!" Kamasu yanked his hand back. He scratched the side of his head, "Maybe I forgot to tell you that I'm the worst writer in love lettering history. I didn't write you a letter, Nagayoshi. Mine would probably sound more like a normal letter—or even a diary entry. It wasn't me…" he ended trailing. Both he and Nagayoshi were now perplexed, clueless, and discombobulated.

"Then who…?"

Back at the small, one-roomed house in which the adoptive siblings resided, Kakuzu for once could laugh freely without anyone seeing him as if he was a creature falling from the stars playing yo-yo. The love letter in which he now took custody of amused him to no end.

* * *

**EPIC DRAMA FAILURE!!! As I suspected, writing a romantic thing is absolutely not my trump card—although I have to admit I'm quite good at it once it's put in drabbles. And Kamasu is a last-second appearing character (although his appearance in this ridiculously long chapter was not brief at all) and I decide that he will be important someday in the storyline. SPOILER! And a little trivia:  
~_Raihou_ is inspired by Iron Man!**

**Hmm…if I'm not mistaken—which I shouldn't—Kamasu means 'barracuda'. Surprise! The fish is in love with the divine fabric of birds! WTF…. Anyway, as always, reviews are loved and constructive critics are welcomed. Now if you would excuse me, I want to go to the weapon vault and get myself a rifle. I'm gonna kill myself for making such pathetic romance =___=;**

_Next: Nagayoshi's ninja studies is at end. Kakuzu offers her two life-changing choices as it's time to bring the girl to Akatsuki._


	8. Graduation and Farewell

**Chapter 7: Graduation and Farewell**

"It's been too long, Kakuzu. Time's up." the haunting voice of the leader spoke through the holographic display of himself. The only real thing that was clear enough for Kakuzu to distinguish was his grey circular eyes.

The holographic display of Kakuzu's head shuffled, indicating that he was nodding. "I perfectly understand, sir. Nagayoshi is going to take her graduation test pretty soon. After that, I'll be hurling back to the base with her."

"You sure?" Pein asked skeptically. Kakuzu snapped his head up to see his leader's sharp eyes. "What if she fails?"

"She won't. Trust me, Leader-sama." Kakuzu reassured him.

"Fine. But what if she's too attached to Kumogakure?"

At which point Kakuzu had to suppress a gasp and his eyes diverted to see something else other than Pein's eyes. He could sense the leader smirked at his miscalculation of the worst possible scenario and if it weren't for his magnificent powers, Kakuzu would have strangled the leader. His hands fidgeted though. "Tch. Then what should I do if she refuses to go with me?" Kakuzu bit his lower lip; he shouldn't have asked that.

"You know the answer, don't you, Kakuzu?" Pein asked. Kakuzu scrunched his forehead. "Your so-called sister will never know the existence of Akatsuki—not anymore—forever."

Kakuzu regretted for asking, for real. He shut his eyes tightly. Luckily the holographic display didn't grant him the presentation of mouth so Pein couldn't see him mouthing foul curses. He nodded, even though he knew he couldn't hide the true fact that he was upset with Pein's decision. "I understand, Pein-sama." he said bitterly. It was too obvious, even for the most idiotic human ever existed.

"Kakuzu…" Pein called, more friendly this time. "…don't take it to the heart."

"Hmph." was Kakuzu's answer before he vanished and returned to reality, back on the rented house in which he had resided for the last…four years!

"It's been a long time ever since I saw you in that stance, Oniisan." Nagayoshi said. Upon hearing her slightly deepening voice, Kakuzu blinked.

"I just got a call." Kakuzu answered. "Do you have homework?" he asked.

"Nope." she answered, sitting down beside him. "I'm free today." She lay down on the floor; her arms behind her head. She closed her eyes to give the tension on the eyelids some rest. Meanwhile, Kakuzu just watched her silently.

_She had grown a lot,_ he contemplated. He couldn't believe that he had lived with her for almost four years now. She was six when they first met, and now she was ten—only a few tiny steps away from being a teenager. He noticed that Nagayoshi had gone taller. At first, she was barely as high as his hips. Year by year, she grew up and now the top of her head reached his lower torso. Her voice also deepened, more specifically after she turned ten recently. It still sound like a child, nonetheless, but not as shrill anymore. Her clothing size increased too, as well as her shoe size.

As for her ninja skills, they were improving really fast. Again, it was all thanks to Kakuzu's intensive training. Nagayoshi was now able to shoot _Raihou_ without having to stumble aback due to the shockwave. She could use _Raihou_ up to ten times a day. It will increase as she grows and her chakra increases. Even Kakuzu himself could use _Raihou_ up to thirty times.

Nagayoshi also showed a new capability lately. She claimed she could sense someone's scientific presence. She didn't know how; it just sort of happened. After a few weeks and days of testing and researching, they both came out with a conclusion that Nagayoshi could sense someone's presence by feeling the electromagnetic field radiating from every person. She said she could tell whether the person was moving or not. However, it has a flaw: she could only sense up to five miles in radius. It was yet to found out whether it will improve as years pass.

"When is your graduation test, Nagayoshi?" Kakuzu asked; breaking the precious midday silence.

"Hmm? It's on next Monday, according to Shuugei-sensei. What is it, Oniisan? You look…troubled." she asked. She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Nah, I'm okay. Don't worry about me. I just…hope you don't fail." Kakuzu trailed off, swaying his head away from Nagayoshi's gaze.

"What's this? Where did the pessimism come from? C'mon, Oniisan, you've trained my ass really hard. I found it impossible for me to fail a few little tests like that. Let's see…all I have to do is to shoot some shuriken, use the _Kawarimi_, make one clone, Henge into a teacher, answer some theoretical questions in ninja works and…voila! I'm a new Genin." Nagayoshi stated confidently, shifting her position so that her back rested against Kakuzu's.

Kakuzu smirked, "Well, at least someone's optimist. No more whines and such?"

"Nuh-uh. Someone from my past told me that I should believe in the future." Nagayoshi uttered with a smile crawling onto her face.

"Ooh, who is this 'someone from your past', hmm? I assume it's a boy." Kakuzu replied. Upon hearing none from Nagayoshi, Kakuzu chuckled lightly. "I can still read you like a book even with my eyes closed." He continued chuckling even after Nagayoshi roughly nudged him with her elbow. However, shortly afterwards, the chuckling ceased. "Nagayoshi, after your graduation, I need to tell you something. It's very, very important. It's even ten times more important than to note that _Raihou_ is prohibited to use in a close range."

"Uh, okay…"

"Good." He sighed afterwards. Nagayoshi almost didn't recognize that sigh. The sighing from Kakuzu that she knew was when she made a mess, being excessively stubborn, or when she had escaped harm. This one…it didn't sound like any of those three. "For now, good luck in your test."

Nagayoshi pulled an optimistic and bright smile. She nodded enthusiastically.

**|-oOo-|**

Nagayoshi huffed in relief now that she passed the written test. She did expect them to be difficult, but some of the short essay questions required her logic and also creativity. She tried her best and even imagined what Kakuzu would do in that kind of situation. Yet again, since she never been to real missions, she only could assume the scenario. The teachers would understand anyway.

She wasn't alone in the graduation test. Amongst the other ten-year-olds, there were seven other kids other than Nagayoshi that also took the graduation test. Three of them were Akito, Masao, and Umasaki. The other four were also prodigies in her class. Nagayoshi did very well in the weapon assaulting; all of her shots hit the bull's-eye. Her performance in _Kawarimi_ usage was also outstanding. She made a perfect resemblance of her teacher. Clone-making was no question. It made her wonder, though, as why didn't the teachers tested walking on horizontal surfaces and water. _Hmm…come to think of it, it wasn't in the school subject,_ Nagayoshi contemplated. At which point Nagayoshi's speculation arrived on Kakuzu doing all those on purpose.

The teachers needed only two days to mark the tests. Day one for the written tests; day two for the practical tests. Most of the teachers were amazed by the children's capability. Those who sat next to each other muttered about the child's intelligence and talent. Then some of them would go over the files and discovered their lineage. They were like, "Of course!" when they saw Umasaki's profile. She was the Raikage's niece, so no wonder. The same goes for Akito, whose father was the ANBU captain. They found astounding facts from the other kids; like one of them was the son or daughter of a well-known ninja of Kumo. Nagayoshi, however, brought a different type of uproar.

Alas, finally on Thursday, the teachers were ready to announce the children's outcome. They all passed the test. Nagayoshi was on the second place, because she missed two marks in the written exam (it wasn't a short essay). The first place was taken by a girl who did have a good memorizing ability and also outstanding performance named Ari. Ari's practical performance was actually poorer than Nagayoshi—should the test also cover walking on abnormal surfaces and using jutsus other than those taught at school. One by one, the students were called to the principal's office according to alphabetical order. Nagayoshi was the fourth to be called.

"You did excellently in your test, Nagayoshi." said the principal proudly. She opened her drawer and pulled out a blue Genin headband.

"Thank you, Sensei!" Nagayoshi chirped. She then received her blue Genin Kumogakure headband. Her grin widened followed by a victorious giggle. Her gleefulness made the principal smiled. Nagayoshi bowed gratefully before the woman. _Oniisan is going to love this!_ She thought merrily. She would slam the door open as soon as she arrived at home and loudly announce her success. But before that could happen, there was a party to celebrate first. She exited the principal's office and even after she closed the door, she could still hear the teachers speaking inside. She took her time to eavesdrop a conversation or two.

"The kids this year are very talented, aren't they?" a teacher said to another. Nagayoshi smiled smugly.

"Oh yeah! Yeah, you're right! They're just exceptional! That kid earlier, Nagayoshi, is pretty awesome too. The ANBU captain's daughter and Sandaime's daughter are also great too." said the second teacher.

"How about that white-haired boy? Er…Masao!"

"He'll make a good ANBU, seriously. He's just superb!"

"Nagayoshi could be one too!"

Upon hearing that she was recommended to be an ANBU, Nagayoshi's heart skipped a beat. That was even better than she thought it would be. ANBU works directly under the Raikage's orders which make them special in some sort of way. ANBUs are more feared rather than normal status ninja. She skipped happily towards her friends, planning on to tell those things she heard about them. She never knew future could be so wonderful.

"Well…yeah…but she's a little too suspicious." the second teacher replied to the first one. Unfortunately, Nagayoshi was already out of reach and she missed that one little phrase.

As soon as she gathered with her friends, she told them what she heard. The three of them seemed thrilled, most especially Akito.

"Really? They said that?" she almost squealed. She already bit her lower lip because many times in the past, Nagayoshi and/or Umasaki scolded her for shouting unnecessarily.

"Seriously; I heard it by myself! Pretty cool, huh?"

"I know! But…we can't become an ANBU straightaway. We must at least become Chuunin first before we can become an ANBU."

"If it's Akito-chan, I'm sure you can do it. You're the captain's daughter, anyway." Nagayoshi tapped Akito's back and the brown-red haired girl blushed.

"Aw, shucks, Naga-chan! Just because the captain is my dad, doesn't mean I can be like him completely." Akito self-effaced.

"How about you, Masao-kun? Would you like to be an ANBU too?" Umasaki asked, turning to the most silent amongst the four of them.

"I don't know. I might want to follow my family's footsteps as hunter nin. Or…I'd still rather be normal ninjas." he answered.

"Ah…that's too bad."

"But I will always be a loyal ninja to Kumo. I was born and grew up here, so I ought to protect it." Masao said with a soft yet blazing passion radiating from his eyes. Akito's blood rushed to her face as soon as her eyes caught that burning passion. Upon seeing Akito's poorly hidden display of emotion, Nagayoshi giggled uncontrollably.

Few minutes later, Umasaki was called to the principal's office. She, too, received her headband. The four of them cheered and at the same time wear their headbands, each in a different way. Umasaki had it worn like a bandana; Akito wore it as a belt on her waist; Masao wore it normally, around the forehead; Nagayoshi wore it loosely around her neck. They all smiled gleefully (or in Nagayoshi's case, grinned) and they high-fived altogether.

They had a small party in the teacher's room. The principal ordered some bento for the graduating students and as well for herself and the teachers. They joked, played some games, teachers congratulating some of the students directly, and they sang farewell songs. The students were allowed to go home in midday, right after one of the teachers announced that two days later they will meet their designated Jonin teacher. The four best friends said their goodbyes as the roads to their house split to three different ways (Akito and Masao took the same road while Umasaki and Nagayoshi took different ones).

Biting her lip to hold back more excited squeals and exaggeratedly loud 'YEAH!' Nagayoshi fumbled with the blue Genin headband circling her neck. She was officially a ninja now! This was the greatest time of her life! She had already imagined things she would do in her assigned mission. She also imagined working together with Kamasu, side-by-side—each one covers each other's back. Her teeth slipped back from her lip and as a result of which, she began to giggle joyously.

"Well, someone's happy." a deep baritone voice broke Nagayoshi's colorful-thought-filled silence. It was unmistakably Kakuzu's voice. Nagayoshi whipped her head towards the direction in which he entered with a wide smile. She pointed at her headband on her neck. "Ah, so you did it. Congratulations, sis."

The smile shrunk, but not drooped, immediately after Kakuzu finished saying his line. Her eyes stared broadly at him with a newfound astonishment. Kakuzu simply raised one eyebrow to demand his answer upon that wide-eyed gaze she was giving him.

Nagayoshi stammered, "Ah…uh…you never call me sis before. What has gotten into you?" she asked, with very much hesitancy.

This time, Kakuzu's green eyes broadened in realization before it shrunk slightly and his eyeballs moved to the corner of his eye sockets. "Hmm…you're right. I just realized it myself. Well, never mind that. The point is you're a ninja now. Let's go home."

"Oh yay! Are we going to celebrate my graduation, Oniisan? Are we?" Nagayoshi asked hopefully; her eyes sparkled with said emotion.

"Don't be silly. I'm not the one to throw out a party. That'll cost me a fortune!" Kakuzu replied snappily.

"Dang, I should've known." Nagayoshi's eyes then flew to an object in which Kakuzu was holding with one hand. "Then what's the groceries for? I think it's a little too much for our supplies for the week."

Kakuzu cleared his throat uncomfortably and ushered Nagayoshi to walk beside him. "We'll talk about this at home, okay? Wait, never mind—tomorrow. I'm a little tired today." he said hastily. Nagayoshi noticed the discomfort and halted in her tracks.

"You're acting strange lately, Oniisan. I know there's something wrong. Tell me." Nagayoshi demanded.

Kakuzu shook his head. "I told you I'll tell you tomorrow. There is absolutely nothing you have to worry about."

"Lies! Then explain to me why are you talking so fast all of a sudden? I know you, Oniisan. You can't fool me that easily." Nagayoshi retorted.

"Nagayoshi, _please._" Kakuzu emphasized his line of reasoning while burying his face in one of his hands. He massaged his eyebrows jadedly, sighing heavily—this sigh Nagayoshi recognized quite well. "I'm tired and your stubbornness hurts my head more. I told you—again—I'll tell you tomorrow. I promise…" Kakuzu stared at his sister rather earnestly—begging her to believe him. When Nagayoshi puffed one side of her cheeks, he sighed again and left her behind. He usually would carry or drag her with him, but he was truthfully tired so let the girl decide. It relieved him when he saw her catching up to him.

"Fine…waiting won't kill." she said; Kakuzu could taste the distinct sourness in her voice. He had to reward this girl for being able to stand against his reasons, lies, and attitude all these years. And for that very occasion, he knew the exact thing she wanted. From the grocery bag, he withdrew a big red Fuji apple and bestowed it to her. Nagayoshi ogled at the apple before staring up to her brother.

"For understanding my hard times." Kakuzu simply said. He ruffled her short hair as she smiled and began to chomp down the fruit.

**|-oOo-|**

Kakuzu had already waked up at five in the morning (five-twenty to be more exact). Not because he was going to initiate his long travel this midday; but because his agonizingly heavy head slammed his consciousness awake. His breathing loud with troubled thoughts seeped out through his nostrils. He rose from his leaning position and rested his head against his hand. He massaged the sides of his weighty head, trying to think clearly. But as much as it seemed to be a blur image, what was in his mind was the clearest from all. Gravely, he turned around to see the ten-year-old sleeping soundly. Crawling mutely towards the girl, he contemplated at her. Almost instinctively, his fingers brushed her forehead. He quickly yanked the hand back when she shifted position.

Kakuzu's feelings melted followed by the lost of sternness from his green-in-red eyes. His emotions were in a messy jumble—like dirty laundry. Pein ordered him to eliminate this girl in case she refused to defect from Kumo and to Akatsuki. It should be easy; especially that Kakuzu was quite of an expert in killing. But he had gone too attached to this girl. He remembered saying that the sibling status was just for a façade while living in this village. However, time glued that façade tightly to his face, and probably her face too—no, most especially to her face—making it a real face of theirs. He had to admit that he enjoyed this sibling status. It made him more human and less monster.

Then again, the elimination orders from Pein. It was too hard for him. Back when he was young, he felt too guilty already only to leave his former family while he defected from his village of origin. When he left, his family was still alive. Alive, but they were hurt by losing his existence. Now…to kill Nagayoshi—who was not his blood relative—it felt almost three times as heavy.

Once again, his hand ran through the girl's skin; this time, he loosely grasped her hand. Despite all the harsh training he continuously shoved at her, her skin was still smoother compared to his calloused ones. He inhaled, closing his eyes before opening them slowly. He whispered, "I don't want to lose another sister." He unhanded her smaller hand and stood. He walked to the bathroom to take an early bath.

By the time he finished, the sun had risen, giving a warm light orange daylight to the mountainous horizon called Land of Lightning. He walked out and when he arrived on the same place where every day began, Nagayoshi was already having a morning exercise. She turned her head upon hearing his heavy footsteps and waved him good morning. Nagayoshi hopped up from the cool dewed grass back to the bedroom and gathered her clean clothes.

"I cooked us a cup noodle. You can eat it if it's done already!" she said cheerfully before heading to the bathroom. Kakuzu replied in short vocals since she gave him no time to say anything longer. He opened the lid of one the cup noodles (the one with his favorite flavor) to check if it was cooked already. He waited for extra five minutes before finally consuming it.

He knew Nagayoshi took more time bathing than he did, but he had to remind her that she also had a cup of noodle to eat. "Hey, if you don't come out now, I'm gonna eat your breakfast!" Five seconds afterwards, Nagayoshi slid the door open and scowled at him.

"I like my noodle wet and soggy, get it?" she snarled at him, jabbing her index finger at his chest. Kakuzu chuckled lightly as she walked to retrieve her breakfast.

He grimaced; he liked teasing her like that. She made the most comical expression he had ever seen. Comical, but not sickeningly exaggerated to his standards. It was as if her facial muscles were designed for said expression that they fit perfectly on her without looking too much like a clown. He was going to miss that if she died. Therefore, he began to wish again.

While she ate, Kakuzu withdrew his travelling bag from the wardrobe and began to stuff things into it and slung his money briefcase to the strap of the bag. It was nine in the morning by the time Nagayoshi had consumed all her need. She watched her brother curiously and suddenly she was reminded by yesterday's topic.

"Oh, Oniisan, are you ready to tell me what you wanted to tell me yesterday?" she asked.

Kakuzu stopped his activity. He inhaled deeply yet silently; he then turned to face Nagayoshi. Ever since his love confession decades ago when he was still a teenager, his heart never drummed this hard ever. Nagayoshi waited edgily and her toes started to fidget.

"Right…I need to tell you something." Kakuzu began nervously. If only Nagayoshi was a few inches closer, she could distinguish the soft tremble of his lips. Kakuzu inhaled again, making Nagayoshi even more impatient with every tick of the clock. "I'm not…what you think I am." he finished, with much difficulty.

"What do you mean, Oniisan?" Nagayoshi asked, starting to get apprehensive upon seeing him pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'm not just an ordinary ninja." he continued. "And Akatsuki isn't just an ordinary organization." Kakuzu stammered. He tried his best not to and his pathetic efforts fed him up. Tired of stalling, Kakuzu grunted and blurted, "The truth is: I'm a criminal. An _S-ranked_ criminal; the worst of all criminals. I've killed more people than you've ever imagined, and they all aren't just bounties. I've also had killed innocents." Kakuzu took a deep breath heavily and shakily. Relieved that one burden was off and yet it made him nervous all over again now that a new burden had set atop his broad shoulders.

Nagayoshi stared up to his taller figure with eyes expanded to the point where her eyeballs might have popped out involuntarily. Those eyes, strangely, made Kakuzu felt like he was assaulted head-on with a very large sword. "Is that…?"

Kakuzu nodded bitterly. "It is. It's all true, Nagayoshi. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier about this. I…don't want you to…well, it was actually an order but at the same time, I don't want you to…" Kakuzu paused for gulping and curse himself for rambling like an idiotic teenager threatened by his parents, "…to feel ashamed among your friends."

He laughed sourly all of a sudden, surprising Nagayoshi and even himself. "What the hell am I talking about? I think I had just about to start to make you feel ashamed, huh?" Kakuzu continued to chuckle sourly and covered his eyes with one of his hands.

"Oniisan, you're talking gibberish. I don't understand. What—what are you trying to say?" Nagayoshi asked. Truthfully, she felt scared seeing her brother to act so unnaturally like this.

"I'm leaving soon." he answered almost immediately. "I intended to take you with me—you know, like I used to say to you. I'd take you to Akatsuki when you're bigger, after you've become a ninja. As expected, you graduated quite early. But…I figure…you'd prefer living as a normal ninja rather than being with me in a hard, unforgiving environment. I'm giving you a chance, Nagayoshi. It's up to you and I'll respect it. I will just have to lie to Pein-sama, then."

"Whoa, wait—lie? Why do you have to lie?" Nagayoshi cut off.

"This is what I really don't want to say but…anyway…Pein-sama told me to kill you in case you don't want to come with me."

"_What?_"

"But—I don't want to kill you. Not…not after what we've been through. That's why, as I told you, you are free to choose. Even if you refuse to go with me, I will not kill you. All I want is to see you grow up as a great ninja to my eyes. I promise you, I will not take your life and instead, I will fake your death. Although…Pein-sama might know about this, I will try to save you. Even if it means it'll cost my life."

Kakuzu grimaced upon seeing Nagayoshi craned her head down. He noticed how her fists curled tightly, causing her tendons to become visible.

"Now…" Kakuzu breathed deeply again while Nagayoshi held hers. "If you wish to stay, you're welcome. On the other hand, you may come with me, but then that returns to my whole point. I need you to choose wisely." He tilted his head to look at the clock. "I'm leaving in midday. You have three hours. I hope it's enough." He turned back to resumed packing his things. Behind him, Nagayoshi was having the biggest headache of her lifetime.

She palmed a small part of her face. She shut her eyes momentarily before turning away. "I need air. I—I'll think about it."

Kakuzu didn't answer; he kept packing as if ignoring her presence. The activity stopped once he heard the front door being shut. His eyes hollow as his mind repeated his rambling speech earlier. He was distracted by a round object reflecting the sunlight at him. The object was not only round, but red too. He grabbed the fruit and stared at it somberly. Her favorite food…

**|-oOo-|**

_This_ has always become the place she would end up to every time she took a stroll. Even if she wasn't taking a stroll, she still wound up to this place. It was full of skyscraping, elderly pine trees. Down on the good earth, there were small wooden posts with red and white circling on the middle. The public shooting range was the only place where Nagayoshi could think clearly—or at least she assumed so.

The first few minutes, she just stood there, stiff like the trees and the wooden posts. Birds might mistook her as a scarecrow should she continued to disuse her muscles. Before any specimens of birds found her interesting, she grabbed a kunai from her weapon pocket. With no further thinking, she threw it straightaway to the target circles.

Bull's-eye.

It used to never hit the bull's-eye, few years back. It drove Kakuzu mad, seeing how terrible she was. When all seemed to lost, Kakuzu found a method of demonstration. He pivoted her arms, showing her the right stance to throw it. He also said the problem was not at her aiming, but on her throw which he said to be lousy.

She could remember his large hands encircle her small wrists as if they were drum sticks. After that, only in a matter of time and frequent practice, Nagayoshi became an excellent shooter. Her excellence granted her smooth pavement to ninja world; it granted her some clear, sheen pavement to this very day. If Kakuzu wasn't that strict, she may have still sitting on rows of tables, staring to the blackboard inside hell of boredom. She owed him that.

Every throw brought her to a different memory. Each of them reminded her of the hard work they both had. They also reminded her of the good times, bad times, hard times, and basically everything. On the other hand, they also reminded her of her friends. She loved each every one of them, yet at the same time, she also loved Kakuzu. Now she was given two choices: leave Kumogakure and her friends to come with Kakuzu, or let Kakuzu leave so she could live with her friends. Moreover, what's up with killing her? She didn't do anything wrong—at least so far. But Kakuzu had promised to cover her. Can she trust that promise? She had known Kakuzu for years, however, the fact that she and Kakuzu were not coming from the same blood fuzzed her belief. There was still so much about Kakuzu that was hidden from her.

She grabbed another kunai but instead of throwing them to the target circles, she threw it to a bush behind her. A shuriken flew in a gyrating motion and stopped the zip of her kunai. Both weapons dropped to the grass harmlessly. She glowered and grabbed another kunai, this time she decided not to throw it. "Come out or I'm going to attack you!" she snarled threateningly.

From behind the bushes, a brown army-cut hair bobbed out. Kamasu raised both of his hands in a surrendering manner. There was a forced smile striking his face. "Don't be so mean to your friend, Nagayoshi." he said, rather nervously.

"Oh, Kamasu-senpai." Nagayoshi relaxed and restored her kunai. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"Ah, first of all, don't call me 'senpai' anymore. We're both ninjas now." he pointed at her headband and his. "Just call me Kamasu."

"Alright then, Kamasu-kun. What are you doing here?"

"I just got back from a mission and when I head home, I saw you walking by yourself." he answered humbly. "I don't mean I'm following you like a stalker. It's just…you don't look like you feel good and you're out alone. So I figure I'd better follow you and see what's going on."

Nagayoshi lowered her head, not even bother to reply him, and she turned around. Kamasu noticed the change of air surrounding her; it urged him to approach the androgynous girl. Gently, he placed one of his hands on her shoulder. Nagayoshi rotated her head a little.

"Is there a problem?" he asked apprehensively.

Taking a seat on one of the trees, Nagayoshi explained her problems. She didn't go overbroad with the storytelling. She didn't tell Kamasu that Kakuzu was an S-ranked criminal but she did told him that he was about to leave this midday and offered her two difficult and dilemmatic choices. "I love to live here with my friends and all, but I don't think my life would be the same without him. I just felt wrong to let him leave. I—I don't know…" she concluded awkwardly, burying her face in her hands.

Kamasu patted her back comfortingly, scooting closer to the girl. "Well, I personally want you to stay. It is certainly going to be a different world without you, but…you know me, I won't mind if you go. In my case, I know we will meet again." he said, still rubbing her back. "It's your choice, really. If I were you, I'd rather live with someone that is truly going to make me happy. With a chance this big, I won't waste the best and will absolutely choose it. Only an idiot chooses the path they dislike."

A remediable typhoon blew the falling leaves of ambiguity clean from her brain, causing Nagayoshi to unbury her face from her hands. Her eyes widened dramatically with a newfound insight and her head continued to rise. The hopeful gleam ignited in her ebony orbs. Briskly, she pulled the unsuspecting Kamasu to a quick yet deep hug. "Kamasu-kun, you're a genius! Thank you, thank you so much! Excuse me; I have news to tell. Bye! Thanks again!" she hurriedly blabbered and with a quick jump, she was off from the tree and started running towards home.

Meanwhile, Kamasu's heart beat was hard enough to cause a tsunami of blood up to his face. He cleared his throat to flick the blush off of his face. The figure of running Nagayoshi kept disappearing as she ran to the distance. Proud of what he had done, he smiled.

Nagayoshi spiritedly sprinted to her home. She has found the answer to her dilemma and she was not going to regret choosing it because it was what she thought would be right for her. Her optimistic grin stretched wide as she continued to run back. She skidded to a stop, just a few yards before the front gate.

There was a significant change in the electromagnetic field from the house.

**|-oOo-|**

The apple was washed already. Looks like Nagayoshi intended to eat it before she decided to ask him about what he told her earlier. Sadly, she lost the chance because she had to think. Kakuzu grimaced slightly at the guilt of giving the ten-year-old two heavy choices. Briefly, choosing between the two seemed simple, yet in reality it was as hard as moving a planet's orbit. He placed the apple back on where he found it. It was upon which he immediately noticed the crowd of shadows coming from the direction of the terrace.

Kakuzu's sober face rapidly hardened as the unwelcomed presences entered his temporary residence without even bothering to take off their footwear. Indifferently, regardless of his wary glower at the uninvited guests, he wore his black mask, concealing his stitched mouth. He began to count: one, two, three, four…there were eight Kumogakure ANBUs infiltrating his residence. The one in the middle he recognized as Akito's father.

"So this is the real face of the young man that used to sit across me. I never imagine young Nagayoshi lived with a criminal like you and not realizing it. She must be really stressed to finally know about it." Akito's father began to speak. His voice unflawed; it was thickly covered with confidence of gaining victory.

Kakuzu narrowed his eyes at the mention of Nagayoshi's stressfulness or not. This man talked big, he thought, and he truly detested his smugness. "What are you monkey-faced menials want from me?" Kakuzu snapped at them. He kept his fists controlled as the ANBUs surrounded him.

"We're supposed to catch you, of course. We heard from our connections outside the village that there is a criminal organization lurking amongst the ninja world. They said they wear black cloak with red clouds on them. What you're wearing is exactly like they described. You must be one of them." Akito's father answered smoothly.

"What are you going to do with me once you've got me?"

"We're going to force you to spill some information about this organization you're working for. If we fail, then we only need to force someone else to spill the information."

Kakuzu scoffed, "You don't even know if we have connections or not. Heck, even I don't know who our agents are. It's the leader's stuff, not mine."

"True, but we can always ask your associate."

Kakuzu's eyes narrowed.

"We can always ask your 'sister'. We will get our info by any means possible."

"You keep her out of this!" Kakuzu roared. "She knows nothing!"

"We can't be sure until we see it for ourselves, now can we?" Under that porcelain mask, Kakuzu could sense the devilish smirk curling upwards. If Kakuzu ever laid his eyes upon that smirk, his fist might have lost control and found its way to the nose bridge. As a matter of fact, he would love to see that smirk for said reason.

"Oniisan? You there?" Nagayoshi's voice broke their tense hostile conversation.

Kakuzu inaudibly gasped and warily watched the ANBUs for their next offensive movements. He knew they were going to go after Nagayoshi first. They probably would kidnap her from her house and began the interrogation. Kakuzu could just rescue her, but he didn't want to waste time. Better he prevent it.

One ANBU vanished from the outnumbering circle. That didn't look good. Taking risks of barraging against a wall of trained assassination ninjas, Kakuzu rampaged out of the room and shouted, "Nagayoshi, get down!" He punched two down on the stomach and made his way to the hallway.

"Oniisan? What's going on?" Nagayoshi asked. She sensed something bad even before she touched the front gate. Then Kakuzu shouted at her to get down—that only made her feeling tingled with bad omens.

"I said get down!" Kakuzu shouted again, his right hand ignited with lightning chakra.

At the same time as she ducked down from getting hit by Kakuzu's _Raihou_, she sensed a sudden appearance of a person behind her. She gasped when an ANBU reached out to grab her but soon enough he was flying his way out of the front door with a giant lightning strike on the chest. Nagayoshi shut her eyes and covered her head to protect her skull from wooden debris of a broken front door. She got up slowly, shocked by the attack and turned to see Kakuzu hurriedly approaching him.

"Oniisan, what's going on in here? Why are you shooting that person—"

"We have to get out of here, fast. This place isn't safe anymore, both for you and my—AARGH!" Kakuzu screamed all of a sudden, at the same second as a javelin made of thin air pierced through his chest, more precisely on where his heart lied. The javelin retreated from his flesh, creating a thin yet fatal injury on Kakuzu. The tall tanned man fell to the floor. Nagayoshi was on time to catch his body.

"Oniisan! Oniisan!" Nagayoshi shouted frantically. A shadow loomed over her and a man stood before her. The man then slowly opened his porcelain mask, revealing his face that much to Nagayoshi's shock, she knew quite well. It was the face of the kind man treating her and Kakuzu dinner a couple of years ago. The face of her best friend's father. "No…" she gasped in horror.

"Come with us, Nagayoshi. We're going to save you from the wrong path." he said persuasively. He stretched out a warm hand to Nagayoshi.

That hand continued to fly to grab Nagayoshi's arm and drag her away from the house, from the body of her brother. Nagayoshi couldn't run; she was stuck. It was when she shut her eyes tightly did something under the skin of Kakuzu moved rapidly. The unseen movement revived Kakuzu, enabling him to roundhouse-kicked the ANBU captain across his face. The captain got thrown by the kick and his head broke through the wooden wall like a sledgehammer.

"You okay?" Kakuzu asked, grabbing both of Nagayoshi's shoulders.

The girl nodded, still unrecovered yet from so much shock and trauma. "How did you…?"

"No time to ask. Listen, I need you to fight these ANBU. Don't argue—just fight! You know how to fight, don't you?" Kakuzu commanded hurriedly and his hands changed color into that of a stone. He propelled his tightly curled fist to an upcoming ANBU. In his range, he could hear the victorious crackle of breaking bones.

Nagayoshi stammered at first, but when other ANBUs began to attack or try to take her away again, she ducked and hit their knees so they fell. At most times, Kakuzu saved her and dragged her up to her feet. His early lessons made a short replay in the back of her mind. ANBUs attacked in groups and they attack simultaneously. She can_not_ be the caribou attacked by wolves; she has to be something bigger. _Easy for him to say!_ Nagayoshi hissed mentally. But she missed to remember one thing. It was not until an ANBU caught her on the arms did it finally kicked in.

_"If you can't be anything bigger, then be the pack of wolves like them."_ Kakuzu used to tell her some time ago after dozens of losing. That should do it.

Nagayoshi turned her head to see the catcher before turning back and slammed the ANBU's chin with the top of her head. The adrenaline rush that had been pumping in her vessels numbed the pain of hitting and breaking the porcelain mask, enabling her to keep battling until the end of time. Nagayoshi put her hands together and quickly muttered, "_Kagebunshin no Jutsu!"_ and five other Nagayoshis were created. They all then attacked their enemies mercilessly.

From the corner of his eyes, Kakuzu saw his sister's fight. Inwardly, he smirked. All those training paid off. He knew it would worth to teach her fight against groups. He needed not to make any clones, not with only eight people against him. He dodged a blade thrust and quickly grabbed the blade-holding arm to swing the person in circles before tossing him breaking through the walls.

"Nagayoshi, over here!" he called. The girl did a little hammer blow before retreating together with Kakuzu. As she ran, her clones were finished off. She sensed someone coming from her right, from the bathroom. What came was not a person; instead it was a piece of paper crumpled into a ball. Kakuzu immediately shouted, "Look out!"

The paper began to flicker in fire and detonated, blowing a hole to the roof and hurling Nagayoshi frontward with the shockwave. Kakuzu was on time to catch Nagayoshi, but he too was thrown away by the explosion. They landed abrasively onto a wall on the end of the house before they fell to the floor. Debris rained over them, cutting some unfortunate skin and caused them to bleed. A sharp piece of wood effectively made a gush at the side of Nagayoshi's head.

Kakuzu helped Nagayoshi to rise, but she only managed to rise up to all fours. He glanced sideways, trying to find an escape but all he could found was blocking debris and his stuffs. His travelling bag was luckily in his reach and using his foot, he hooked the strap and brought it close to him. The ANBU captain stood few meters in front of them, his eyes gloomy and merciless. The porcelain mask was once again in front of his face, and he ordered one of his men, "Burn this house down."

Kakuzu act quickly too; as the ANBU was making hand seals, Kakuzu was making one too. Since his jutsu was simpler, he finished his hand seal ahead before the ANBU. "_Doton: Doryuheki!_" he exclaimed before jamming his hands to the floor. The soil from underground broke in and created a wall dome surrounding him and Nagayoshi. As if earth wall wasn't enough, he roughly grappled Nagayoshi's head before guarding her whole body in front of his chest; his back faced the wall he created earlier.

The world surrounding them turned into a life-sized oven as fire began to engulf the house they used to live in. Nagayoshi had to sacrifice her breathing circulation for a few minutes. The wooden wall that barricaded them into a dead end fell apart by the consuming flames and a new way to escape was opened before them. Kakuzu grabbed his stuffs and Nagayoshi's wrist, coarsely pulling it to urge her to run as fast as she could. The dome wall remained still until one of the ANBU shattered it.

"Shit! They escaped!" the ANBU (a woman) growled.

"Let them." the ANBU captain interjected before the kunoichi could run off to catch both Kakuzu and Nagayoshi. "They're not much of a threat for now. We'll begin searching after the Raikage told us what to do. There is one thing for certain…"

**|-oOo-|**

God knows for how long they had been running. When the house was devoured by flames, he guarded himself, his sister, and his stuffs from fire by making an earth shield. As soon as the heat ceased and the path to escape was opened, he pulled Nagayoshi and ran through the fire and smoke. His plan worked successfully; he knew they would eventually burn the house down and that was their biggest mistake. The fire made a successful getaway camouflage, although it didn't hide the fact that they were still alive.

He was not sure, but it felt like they had ran for miles—seemingly more than ten. He looked back and, yes, he could see Kumogakure no longer. Thus, he stopped to take a breather. It wasn't really for him, but Nagayoshi needed it the most. The smoke must have made her hard to breathe and unlike him, she didn't wear a mask.

Kakuzu let her wrist go instantaneously when he realized that he had been grabbing it—quite hard, even. Mentally, he suddenly hit himself with a mace and called himself an idiot. Why? Well, he gave Nagayoshi two choices. She left before the ANBU arrived. Then they both fight against the ANBUs and escaped. The mistake? Kakuzu hadn't heard her answer. She got back home shortly after he was surrounded by ANBU. There; she went home, calling him. She had prepared an answer! She had the answer and he took her away from the village in which she was going to spend the rest of her life in.

_But I had no choice!_ he argued with himself. _Those ANBUs were about to harm her for the sake of information! I can't let that happen!_

Kakuzu realized what he had just mentally shouted. He gazed towards the ten-year-old leaning to a boulder as she rested herself from miles and miles of marathon. He realized how much he truly wanted to protect this girl. He admitted he liked what they have become. However, they didn't live in Kumogakure anymore so their brother and sister status may be abandoned.

_That_ was what he scratched from his mind. He did not want to abandon the status. He still wanted to be her brother.

Nevertheless it returned to the previous point: will she? He had technically kidnapped her. He better stop delaying and start to demand for his answer. He shivered. What if Nagayoshi declined his offer to Akatsuki? They were far from Kumo now and that means he should commence Pein's order. Maybe he could force her to come?

_Bah, come on, Kakuzu. Face it…you have to act like your age, now. It is her choice after all…_he told himself.

"Oniisan…" Nagayoshi called. Kakuzu whisked his head. Right on time; just when he was about to ask.

Hence, he waited…

"I've made up my mind." she continued. It amazed him how she didn't seem to make any attempts in rambling nonsense. "I'm not going to stay in Kumo." she finally said—with a smile too. "Not after what they've done to you."

Kakuzu should've fallen to his knees or his rear, yet he didn't. As a result of which, his eyes stretched out that his red sclera were completely visible. A soft "Oof!" escaped his lips as the much shorter human squeezed his torso so tightly he might suffocate. To be honest, it was rather breathtaking (both literally and not) for Kakuzu to be hugged like this. Moreover, all his doubts were gone with the wind.

"I don't care what you are, Oniisan is Oniisan. You are the one who made me into what I am now. I might have died in the sewers or eaten by ravens if we didn't meet there. It was all because of you." she snuggled closer. Kakuzu could feel her nose on the lower part of his chest and her breath passed through the seams of his cloak and undershirt.

Everything inside Kakuzu liquefied. Returning her squeeze, he wrapped his arms around her head and shoulders to create and reinstated a deeper bond that goes beyond words.

The status is now forever.

**|-oOo-|**

Akito stared at a scorched apple that rolled to the streets. She saw fire from her house and, knowing that it came from Nagayoshi's house, she ran to this place. What she found looked nothing like a house but more like a landfill. Her father saw her arrival and he approached his daughter. Akito noticed her father's advance and shakily grabbed her father's hand. "What's happening, Daddy? Where's Naga-chan?"

"She's still alive, darling, but she's no longer a friend." Akito's father answered. He was honest; he didn't afraid if what he was about to say will scar her daughter's mind, especially that she was a ninja now.

"No longer a friend? Daddy, what's that supposed to mean?" Akito begged for more explanation and her eyes watered.

"She has defected from this village with her criminal brother. She is now a rogue ninja and if we ever meet her, she shall be captured and jailed. I told you, she's in the wrong hands."

Her lips quivered, her eyes were seriously wet by now. Her teeth rattling and her knees gave up. With anguish, Akito screamed to the cloudy skies of Land of Lightning.

* * *

**Ah…I've been longing to write this particular chapter. It's to redeem the failure I did in the last one. Dang, I am good with family stuffs :D I just know when to make a sibling poignancy time! Now that the school years are over, things will go easier and I can use witty titles again! Hurrah!**

**Oh, and I made a mistake in the previous, previous, previous author's note. Masao is actually means 'Mallard duck' not 'Black swan'. My mistake, sorry.**

_Next: Kakuzu and Nagayoshi's journey to Akatsuki's base in Ame begins!_

**EDIT [9/12/2011]: Thanks to Kishimoto's late revelation that Raikage 3 is Raikage 4's dad, now I have to make some changes. Now Umasaki is no longer the Raikage's daughter, but his niece instead. If she were still his daughter, then there will be no use for adopting Killer Bee. Same changes is done to other chapters containing this fact.**


	9. Bloody Mess?

**Chapter 8: Bloody Mess?**

What is something that is less scary than Armageddon?

What is that? Did you say plenty? Oh, well, that is the only right answer as there are many scary things in this world that are obviously not as horrifying as Armageddon—or Doomsday—or The End—whatever you want to call it.

Take this man: he was a political ninja character. Not too skinny; almost chubby, even. He got charisma, wealth, and fame. Being a political character, many people must have been trying to assassinate this person. That was why he has bodyguards, even though he himself was a ninja and a powerful one too (that was what the witnesses say). Yet he was scampering through the tight alleyway. God blessed him for not making him too obese or else he would be stuck in this alleyway. Cold and hot sweat drenching from his big crater pores, soaking his clothes to the point it looked like it was taken from the laundry half-dried (or to the contrary, half-wet).

Bees stung his legs, made him paralyzed and fell to the stone pathway with a bump. Those were two big, shiny, metallic bees that stung his legs—and they look like anything but bees. Actually, they kind of looked like stars with circular hole in the middle of their structure. The chubby-sorta man howled in agony and pulled out the metallic stars off of his legs. Whimpering like a mongrel, he caressed his wounds. Maybe if he was a mongrel, he would be licking them caringly. He yipped when his chaser landed a few feet before him. Unlike him, his chaser was much slimmer and gave some room for the chaser's companion to stand in.

Trembling badly, the chubby man raised his shaky hands to form in vain one or two hand seals. Unfortunately, before even the first one was formed, a kunai was pierced through his hands and stuck them to the stone pathway. He bawled with more pain but the scream ceased when the chaser kicked his face pitilessly. The taller one walked closer when the smaller one said, "He's yours now."

Despite the boyish silhouette, it was totally a girl, although her voice was rather deep. Alto. Her voice was categorized as alto in music lesson. Wow, how ironic. He was chased and beaten to the pulp by a girl! She didn't even look like a teenager! A kid! Ha-ha! Man, this guy's a loser, isn't he?

The chubby-sorta man yipped again when the girl's companion (which he immediately recognized as a man) seized his collar, lifting his head and neck. The man's green eyes flashed through the darkness, accentuating his already frightening height and silhouette. He shut his eyes tight, mouth speedily whispered last-minute prayers to the god he believed in. The prayers were stuttered in speed of light when the large man chuckled darkly, causing his goose bumps to shriek harmoniously.

"Do goodness, eh, mister? All those speech you gave to the people, ah, what an inspiration! Here, let me give you a suggestion for your start deed: donate your _organs_." said the man in his gruff voice. The chubby man felt like he heard buttons being open and soon afterwards, things that sort of feel like small snakes slithered to his chest, ripping his clothes to expose his bare torso.

"Gaaah! I beg for mercy, good man!" he howled in fear.

_Before we continue, let us rewind the tape to…say…eleven hours earlier._

**|-oOo-|**

Sniff, sniff. Nagayoshi gagged in disgust. The scent of smoke still lingered powerfully in her clothes and the sweat of running only made it worse. She and Kakuzu had been travelling for two days and they never get the chance to take a bath. Despite that Nagayoshi used to originate from this kind of situation, five years living in a real house made her accustomed to cleanliness. Kakuzu, on the other hand, didn't seem to get bothered much.

"Hey, Oniisan…" Nagayoshi called. Kakuzu only resonated a humble 'hmm' to let Nagayoshi knew that he was listening. "When are we going to reach the next rural district? I kinda getting tired of sleeping in the woods."

"I don't know. Let's just keep walking and let's see what we're going to find." Kakuzu answered.

"Okay. You don't seem to mind getting smelly."

"That's because I know how not to whine all the time." Kakuzu answered in a matter-of-fact manner, almost scornfully. Nagayoshi punched him for speaking in such way. "Ow!" he rubbed his side where Nagayoshi landed her fist.

"Sarcastic jerk." she hissed, crossing her arms indignantly.

"Where did you learn to talk like that?" Kakuzu interrogated disbelievingly, one eye squinting.

"From you, _dear_ brother." Nagayoshi answered sarcastically, rolling her eyes in the progress.

Kakuzu stopped in his tracks. "Touché." he said before he continued to walk and catch up with his sister. "I guess I can't be a hypocrite and tell you that it's a wrong way to speak to people. I do swear most of the time, especially when I'm upset."

"So you swear even in front of your boss?" Nagayoshi asked.

Kakuzu shrugged, "Pretty much. At least he didn't mind. We are criminals, after all. The good thing being criminals is that you don't really have to mind etiquette in your working community. However, you do need to act like human on other occasions."

After another hour of walking in the woods, the adoptive siblings found a civilization few miles ahead downhill. Nagayoshi who was immediately excited seeing rows of houses and buildings, intended to roll down it. Thankfully Kakuzu was there to keep the sense logical and dragged her to the right way. As they walked downhill, Nagayoshi spotted horse or bull-drawn carts. She stopped and pulled Kakuzu's sleeve.

"What?" Kakuzu asked rather irritably.

"I think it's going to save more time if we just hitch a ride in one of those carts. What do you say?" Nagayoshi suggested. She grinned to accentuate that she wanted not just to get to the village faster but also in a way she never tried before.

"That is stupid." Kakuzu objected. "We have to keep away from normal roads so that Kumo ninjas won't be able to find us."

"Or we use normal roads in case the Kumo ninjas realized that we are avoiding contacting with any other humans." Nagayoshi countered swiftly. Under his mask, Kakuzu was opening his mouth; both surprised that he was just beaten in a non-heated argument and that he was lost for words.

Finally, the respond to Nagayoshi's suggestion was a grunt. "Oh fine. But make sure we hitch on something concealed." he said in defeat. He buried his face in his hands once Nagayoshi began to cheer and whooping.

And…there they go on road, trying to look out for the perfect cart for them to hitch up. Unfortunately, all carts were just seemed to be roofless. Kakuzu began to think that those horse-drawn vehicles that have roof would be a circus caravan. Hell, he won't hitch on a circus caravan. Not in eternity! Nagayoshi, at last, began to lose hope as well.

"This is all your fault. Now back on feet." Kakuzu snarled. But before he could stomp his way to the village, a horse-drawn carriage stopped before them.

"You kids need a ride to town?" an old man asked them politely. He may only have six remaining teeth, but he was downward friendly.

Sincerely, Nagayoshi pulled an innocent smile. "Yes, please! Can we?" she asked for permission even though it was the old man that offered the ride.

"Sure! Hop on! Oh, and don't mind Nomi. She's just always friendly to people."

"Thank you! C'mon, Oniisan. See? I told you my plan will work." she said in whispers.

"Alright, alright…" Kakuzu rolled his eyes and followed his sister climbing into the carriage which was full of boxes of bread. "Who is he calling kids?" Elbow to the side: by Nagayoshi. "Augh!" Kakuzu shouted in pain. Apparently, Nagayoshi's elbowing was twice as painful as her punch, even in the friendliest situation like now. "That fucking hurts…" he hissed.

"Be nice!" she scolded. "The old man's kind enough to give us a ride. You should at least give him some respect. Oh, and maybe a few bucks to repay his kindness."

It was predictable that after given the suggestion, Kakuzu's first respond (which usually involves facial expressions first before vocal) was a severe case of twitching, then—since it has something to do with money—followed by possessive-protective embrace of his briefcase, and then concluded by a riot-leveled protest. "Hell no! No! No! _No! _You leave this baby out of this!" he snapped.

"Argh, why do you have to be so cheap?! Give me that! I wanna see how penniless you actually are." With trained hands that were used to steal things in a swift motion, Nagayoshi easily snatched Kakuzu's briefcase from his protective embrace and quickly opened it. She ignored Kakuzu's protest as she inspected the insides of the briefcase. What she found was anything but impoverished. In fact, it was pretty much affluent. She glared sideways to her brother, who also glanced sideways to avoid her piercing you-call-this-poverty eyes. Concurrently, Kakuzu's face flushed as well. "Sarcastic cheap _jerk_." she hissed.

"Stubborn whiny _pain_-in-the-_ass_." Kakuzu hissed back.

"I'm taking this." Nagayoshi said, pocketing one stack of ten one hundred Ryou. Kakuzu's eyes bulged at how much money she had taken from his dearest briefcase. "And don't you even start talking about I can't have this much money or something close to that! I know the value of money as well."

Kakuzu growled indignantly and turned away from Nagayoshi fully that only his back that Nagayoshi could see from her point of view. Something hard slid and touched his back. Nagayoshi returned his briefcase. Quietly, he checked the contents. At least he still has enough money to keep him contented. Well, sort of…

For the next one hour of their ride, the siblings were quiet. Both had nothing to argue about and so Kakuzu decided to lie against one of the stack of boxes and do nothing. Meanwhile, Nagayoshi was introduced to Nomi—a big Saint Bernard—and they both became friends in a flick of a finger. Kakuzu grimaced under that thick cloth covering his face. He was never a big fan of dogs, especially the types that were slobbery like this one. He thought dogs have sharp sense of smelling, yet why didn't Nomi disgusted at Nagayoshi's cinder-smelled body? Maybe it's because Nomi already smelled worse than cinder—which is shit.

When Kakuzu was about to drift into reveries, something nudged his side and he found out that it was just his sister. The dog was lying next to her, making her positioned snugly between fur to keep her warm and muscle to be as her pillow. Nagayoshi snuggled one of Kakuzu's arm and intended to use it as a pillow and a bolster.

"Keep your salivated face off of my arm." Kakuzu warned lazily. He tried to yank his arm away but Nagayoshi kept it close.

"I wiped it off already, okay? Relax…" Nagayoshi snapped back before resting her head on his arm once again. This time, although he wasn't one hundred percent convinced, Kakuzu decided to let her have his arm. At least he didn't have to worry about getting too close to the dog. After adjusting his position to where he regained comfort, Kakuzu's eyes slowly fluttered closed. It was merely a minute until he began to snore softly…

_BADABUMP!_

"What the hell is going on—?!" Kakuzu woke up with a jump. The cart suddenly sort of jumped and wobbled quite hard. The old man heard him swore and laughed half-heartedly.

"Heheh…sorry, son. The road's kind of bumpy. We're almost there, anyway!" the old man said from the driver's seat.

Kakuzu began to wake Nagayoshi up as soon as he heard the news that their destination was close by. He shook her slightly and yanked back his taken arm from hers. He popped his head out to see if the man's sight was unmistaken. Yep; the old man's right.

Soon enough, the two of them hopped down from the old man's cart. Nagayoshi gave him a few hundred Ryou, although he said she shouldn't have given him the money. Nagayoshi insisted, nonetheless, and she succeeded to persuade the old man to receive his reward. As soon as they bid their farewell to him, Kakuzu quickly searched for a cheap hotel to stay in. It wasn't hard to do such task in a small civilization, as there were only two hotels available. The cheapest was small and truthfully, it was dirtier even than their previous house in Kumo. Nagayoshi didn't waste her time lingering and began to clean herself.

While the girl was having a bath, Kakuzu went out the hotel to find a job. He did not need to go far; all he needed to do was to go the closest bar and began to ask about bounties. Kakuzu intended to kill specific targets, though. By the time he came back, Nagayoshi was as always chomping down apples.

"Got a job to do." Kakuzu said dryly, flipping envelopes of files before he threw them off before Nagayoshi's bent knees. He opened the buttons of his cloak and let the front opened. He also took off his head gear and mask.

Nagayoshi observed the files of a person with lack of interest. Putting them back on the floor, Nagayoshi tilted her head up only to see a certain part of Kakuzu's chest. "How's your wound?" she asked.

"What wound?" Kakuzu asked.

"You know…the one on your chest. The ANBU stabbed you right there with a wind ninjutsu." Nagayoshi elaborated. She swallowed the bitten chunk of the apple and her eating activity stopped afterwards. "You were…dead. Yeah, you did for a split second. How…how did you…?"

"The wound's healed already." Kakuzu interjected. He sighed, "Listen…I've so many things I'm hiding from you. I don't…feel good to tell about it."

"Why not? Come on, Oniisan…you know you can tell me anything. I'm not upset when you told me you're a criminal." Nagayoshi reassured her brother, putting her hand on his. She smiled softly to convince him more. She knew it would work. So far it had.

Kakuzu sighed again, pinching his nose bridge. "Fine…promise me you won't scream."

"No problem. Why would I scream anyway?"

"Hmph, you have no idea." Kakuzu replied, turning around so his back would face Nagayoshi instead. He let his black cloak slip from his shoulders, revealing his back where there were four wooden masks stitched onto it. He had no idea what was her expression looked like, but he explained anyways. "So basically, I owned five hearts. Each of them represents each element. That ANBU who 'killed' me finished off my lightning chakra heart." He supposed Nagayoshi listened to him. He looked over his shoulder and added, "Freaky, huh?"

Nagayoshi didn't answer; she drew her hand closer and touched one of Kakuzu's heart masks. Kakuzu winced, although it was nowhere near painful to be touched. Then, finally, Nagayoshi asked, "Is there any way you can have your lightning chakra heart back?"

Kakuzu turned back, his eyes wide with newfound astonishment. Apart from (some small of) the Akatsuki, Nagayoshi was the only person to not actually freak out by his appearance. Or…at least he thought so. "Oh, uh, yeah. You see, the other four hearts aren't really mine. I took them alive from my opponents. That's what I'm gonna do to that person on that file."

"Oh…! Wait, you steal people's heart—alive?! Now that part is freaky…it's gonna be all bloody mess and…ugh!"

"I believe the term is gruesome."

"Hmm…probably you're right."

"So…you think I'm not freaky?" Kakuzu asked again.

"I don't think it would be a problem. As long Oniisan still acts like Oniisan I know, then it won't be a problem even if you're a ghost!" Nagayoshi answered lightheartedly, throwing herself to Kakuzu's lap and grinned at him.

Even after living for four years with this girl, she still knows just how to flood him with surprises. First, she didn't mind with his inhuman face, and then she accepted the fact that he was a homicidal killer openhandedly, now she admitted that his multi-hearted physic was not freaky. If she still has any more surprises, he couldn't wait for it. All his remaining four hearts beat softly now in comparison to the previous nervous banging against his ribcage. It was probably too late for him to certify that he could trust his secrets, even the darkest, to this girl. He smirked and his hand found its way to her head.

"Ha…you're a funny girl." he muttered.

**|-oOo-|**

"So…this dude, Tanishi was his name, he's a…what exactly?" Nagayoshi asked, rereading the files of Kakuzu's new heart replacement target.

"He's a politician—sort of—and also an activist that supports the way of peace and bla-bla-bla. He was almost nominated as the leader for this little village, but he lost against the current leader. He still has four years to wait until the next leader election comes by." Kakuzu explained.

"The way of peace, huh? That doesn't sound so bad. Why do people want to kill him?"

"Okay, let's see…first, to eliminate any possible strong candidate for the next election; second, because he's such a hypocrite; third, people just simply hate him for no apparent reason. Me, I think I might have fallen to the second category."

"What, because he's a hypocrite? On what?"

"Look at that headline: the way of peace." Kakuzu pointed at the certain phrase on the file and also on several banners hanging above their heads. Then he pointed to a plump man sitting in a bar with two half-naked women sitting both on his sides. For a moment there (which Kakuzu decided not to let his sister see), he was rubbing the butt of the woman on his right. "You call that a way to peace? Playing with women? Drinking three bottles of sake?" Kakuzu scoffed, "I remembered him saying about doing good deeds to people in need."

Nagayoshi whistled softly, "For a criminal, your mind isn't as dark as I thought."

Kakuzu roughly patted her head, annoying the androgynous girl for doing it in such manner. "I'm the intelligent type of criminal, sister. I ain't a psychopath."

"Ah…an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, eh? Nice…"

"On a second thought, I think I want to kill him because he looks so despicable." Kakuzu interjected, causing Nagayoshi to drop her head dramatically with a scowl on her face. "And why the hell he possessed so much chakra? That is so unfair."

"Ugh…so much for intelligent…" Nagayoshi remarked bitterly. "So what are we waiting for? Let's get him already!" Nagayoshi stormed in, but she was compelled to stand behind her brother again with an uncouth pull on her collar.

"Whoa, hold your horses. There is a huge difference between gangster fights and assassination. I don't want to make a scene." Kakuzu whispered to her, disregarding her suffocated look. Once he released her collar, Nagayoshi adjusted it and breathed deeply.

"Then what do we do now?"

"We wait. Come over here, there's something I'd like to discuss with you." Kakuzu ushered his sister to somewhere more private, where not even a cat would pass. Nagayoshi stared at him with those distrusting eyes. "No, don't worry. It has nothing to do with maturity and all that jazz." Nagayoshi sighed in relief while Kakuzu looked to all directions, checking if there was anyone following them. Once he was sure that they were alone he squatted. Nagayoshi squatted as well as beckoned by Kakuzu.

"Nagayoshi, welcome to the world of assassinating…" Kakuzu smirked, and he didn't hesitate to show that he was indeed excited.

**|-oOo-|**

Even at night, Tanishi was still drinking and playing with chicks' butts so lustfully, hoping those stacks of meat, blood, and sex could be his forever without having to go to the police office and get blamed here and there. God knows how much money he held currently in his pocket—or his account. No matter how much it was, it sure was enough, if not, superfluous to buy all the drinks in the bar. Meanwhile, his bodyguards remained stiff and stone-faced even though they had imbibed two bottles of tequila each.

"You little scoundrel!" A crash followed the cussing and right outside the bar, a man was abusing a smaller and lesser being: a child. A man with thick beard held a stick and bashed at the child mercilessly.

"What's going on over here?" Tanishi stepped up. He was staggered to see that the child that the man was beating was filthy beyond all reason. He could quickly spot that the child was a girl. Her unkempt long hair made it even obvious that she was a girl. In her hands, she was holding a baguette. Tanishi immediately could picture the scenario. "So…?" he inquired the bearded man, perking an eyebrow.

"She stole my bread, sir! She ain't returnin' it ta me so I better beat her to pulp!" he raised the stick again, ready to give the girl more menacing and deathly bashing, but Tanishi patiently held his hitting hand.

"There is no need for violence, my good people. She is just a starving little child. Maybe…you should introspect yourself and imagine yourself in this kid's shoes—despite that she doesn't wear any. Here, take this." Tanishi rummaged his pockets and gave the bearded man a fine amount of money. "The girl will be my guest tonight. Come, child." he beckoned the child good-heartedly and clasped her hands. A couple of women whispered suspicious rumors and possibilities that that child might have carried a disease or something. Tanishi chuckled, "Good citizens, it is wrong to judge people like that. You will not gain peace with such behavior. Alas, why don't we start to spread comfort first and…do good deeds? Not all people are bad, you know?"

His bodyguards closely behind him, he escorted the child back to his house, ambling through dark and lonesome alleys. His neighborhood lacked nightlife (no restaurants, bars and such); therefore they looked as if they were alone in the big, big world. The child moved her eyes from his hands which was grabbing hers to Tanishi's face. Being a 'street rat', such treatment was a little unheard of. The politician smiled down at her and then he asked, "So, little girl, do you like baguette so much?"

"I like…many things…but I'd never be able to touch them. Not as a street rat." the girl answered gloomily.

"Aw…don't say such things, child. You can eat as much as you want in my house, okay?" Tanishi reassured the child with a smile.

"Really? Thanks! You're the kindest man on the planet!"

Tanishi laughed embarrassedly, "Aw…I'm not that great."

"I know. That's why someone wants you." the child said, releasing her hand from Tanishi's and ran to grab one hand from each bodyguard. A couple of seconds after she touched them, the bodyguards were screaming all of a sudden and their bodies shook vehemently. Buzzing sound reverberated from them and the child slowly dissipated into electric surge. Tanishi were thunderstruck and his legs stoned, disabling him from escaping as he saw the fall of his bodyguards.

Tanishi shivered relentlessly and he yowled in surprise when a figure jumped down from the roofs in front of him. Due to the darkness and the lack of street lights, Tanishi could hardly even see the new person's ear. He knew this new pursuer was shorter than him, but the aura that person radiated didn't give him the green sign of friendliness. In a brave stance, Tanishi's hands were coated with electrical chakra current. He swung them hurriedly, flinging two chakra shuriken at the pursuer. The pursuer simply raised his/her arms and let the shuriken fly at them. The weapons vanished even before tearing a skin. Like a small, cowardly dog, Tanishi scrammed. He entered small alleyways, hoping it would slow the pursuer down, but…

**|-oOo-|**

As we perfectly know it, it didn't work—badly. Now there was a tall man, threatening to take his organs out and he was crying like a child being spanked by his father.

"Mercy? Why should I give you that?" the tall man (and we _know_ it's Kakuzu) growled at him, like a furious wolf.

"I did nothing wrong! Why would anyone wanted to kill me other than for political matters?!" Tanishi gasped. "Are you an assassin? Who sent you?"

"Assassin doesn't really suit me, Tanishi…. It's a close term, but I like to prefer myself as a bounty hunter. I hunt people not because I was told, but because I want to hunt people. You're on a lucky day, Tanishi. I'm going to kill you because I need your organ. At least you're going to die to the living of someone else."

Nagayoshi watched intently; her nape sweated a little. She knew that Kakuzu wasn't the friendliest person on earth, but this was the first time she saw the bloodthirsty Kakuzu on action. Seriously; if Kakuzu was an animal, at this point he would be a wolf pawing heartlessly at a defenseless buck deer. She shivered a little at the faint sound of Kakuzu's venomous yet excited susurration. The wolf was licking his snout, impatient to sink his teeth into the deer's throat. Therefore, Kakuzu wait no longer.

She gasped gutturally at the splattering sound of liquid spraying and Tanishi's agonized bawl provided a dramatic horror movie fanfare to the crescent-mooned night. For a split second, Nagayoshi swore she heard thumping loud and clear before it was swallowed and replaced by what it sounded like a gulp. Her heart squished her left lung against her ribcage that she had to breathe deeply in order for the lung not to get too damaged by the inconsiderate banging when Kakuzu finally dropped the soulless body and he sighed in contentment.

"It's good to be complete." he murmured. He sighed again; this time less contented that the first one. "Mmh, but I have to get this cleaned soon before the blood stain decides to stay." He lifted Tanishi's body up on his shoulder as if the dead politician was just a bag of meat. He turned to Nagayoshi, "Let's go back before anyone sees us with a dead leader candidate in our hands." He jumped away to the roofs.

Nagayoshi was about to catch up, but a horrible smell disrupt her from going. Due to the lack of light, she couldn't tell what the cause of the smell was. Like rusting iron, but this scent was far more pungent. Biting her lip, she jumped away either too afraid to know or because the hurrying footsteps were getting closer. There were many things that Kakuzu did tonight that she did not understand—or, to be precise, did not witness.

For one, she didn't know how he extracted Tanishi's heart. Her worst scenario image was that he grabbed straight using his hand. It made her shiver at the amount of blood that smothered his hand. She wouldn't want him pat her head with that hand. The sounds didn't really make her day brighter as well. The thumping and the gulping…what the hell was that? Moreover, Kakuzu was, for a short time, became someone else she didn't seem to know. The wolf side of Kakuzu which she was yet to be introduced properly; all this time, she only knew the Rottweiler side of him. (She used Rottweiler because it's the tough dog breed that was patient and dangerous at the same time.)

He was fast; Kakuzu was an excellent roof runner. Ah, no, he was also good on any given grounds, even water. It was as if he was built to run and kill. Almost perfect, if only his susceptibleness to anything that smells like money could be gated. At the same time as she feared his ferocious side, her admiration of him grew even more to the point where someone could see it from oceans away.

She was aware that she was three minutes slower compared to her brother when she entered their hotel room from the window. When she got there, Kakuzu had opened his cloak, his head gear, and his mask. He was washing them on the sink. He didn't bother to use detergent on them. While the blood stain was still wet, it wouldn't be difficult to wash away. When Nagayoshi closed the window, Kakuzu splashed some water to his face. She did not say anything—all for different reasons.

Kakuzu sighed, relieved that the horrible stain and smell was cleaned from his face. He grabbed a small towel and dried his face. He sat on his futon while Nagayoshi had already lied down in hers; the blanket covered her body with an exception of the head.

"We had a great night tonight, hadn't we?" Kakuzu said; Nagayoshi could sense a sheer excitement in him and she could see him smirking smugly even with her eyes closed. She still said nothing. It was not hard for Kakuzu to sense even the faintest strangeness from his sister. Her silence was actually too obvious for him. "Ah, well…good night." He turned the lights off and he lied down, proceeding to sleep.

Little was exposed to his awareness that Nagayoshi was barely half-asleep, even with her eyelids over her eyeballs.

**|-oOo-|**

Kakuzu overslept, much to his dismay.

He grumbled for a couple of minutes, blaming himself as of how he could have overslept. Was he having a good dream? If he did, he wished he could remember it. Hopefully, it involved gold and diamonds…tons of them. One more thing that intrigued him was how he ended up sleeping on Nagayoshi's futon. It embarrassed him a little to know that he moved in his sleep. He wondered if Nagayoshi was aware of it.

He stood up; a grunt escaped his uncovered mouth as he pushed himself to his feet. The first thing he checked was his cloak, head gear, and mask. Luckily, they have dried. He didn't like to go travelling without wearing his mask and head gear. He always hated uninvited attention especially if those attentions mostly contained fear and terror. He didn't like it when people (who are not bounties and/or enemies) stared at him with those bulging eyes. Although he had to admit that the mask may be excruciatingly torturing, especially when he was in the desert or when he needed air badly, but without it he might not be in touch with his social side anymore. He needed to socialize in order to get money.

He noticed as he got up that Nagayoshi was long gone from her bed even before he rolled to her futon. What a lucky girl; he only hoped that she _had_ got up before he rolled over not after it. As he buttoned his dried black cloak, he spotted a small piece of paper on Nagayoshi's pillow that was also a survivor of his subconscious overturn. A note; so she had left before the rollover. He grabbed the paper and read the scribbled writing of Nagayoshi.

_Dear Oniisan,_

_I'm off to the centre to buy some…things._

_~Nagayoshi_

_Things…what things? _Kakuzu wondered. This girl could be such a mystery if he couldn't see her face. He was not a writing analyst so he couldn't tell what emotions lie beneath the scribbles. He knew though that she was keeping it a secret until she comes home. _More apples?_

Kakuzu shrugged and let the paper fly its way down to the tatami. He rummaged his travelling bag, looking for a cupped noodle with a flavor that will suit his tongue this morning. He ended up taking pork mince with chili. After waiting for the noodle to get cooked, he was finally able to consume it. It was when he took his first slurp did his sister returned. Mouth full and hands occupied to greet her properly, he moved his eyebrows instead. His slurping decelerated when he noticed a huge difference in Nagayoshi. That difference also made his eyes to expand.

Nagayoshi had no longer wearing her iconic dark red t-shirt and navy blue shorts. Instead, she was wearing something else that was darker than before. She wore a black loose jacket with a white sleeveless underneath. As for her pants, she wore a pair of dark cedar green Capri pants. Kakuzu almost didn't recognize her because for some reason she looked older, mature. He wished; too bad, it was only just the exterior.

At least Nagayoshi's expense on clothing reminded him that Nagayoshi was indeed a girl.

"Oh…so that's what the money is for. I hope it's a discount." Kakuzu remarked, slurping more strips of noodle into his mouth. "Let me finish this first then we can get out of here."

"Okay." Nagayoshi answered. "What should I do with my old clothes? Burn it down?"

"Yeah, it's less traceable. You have to be careful though. You don't want the smoke to catch anybody's attention." Kakuzu gulped the soup from the cup before tossing the cup to the trash bin and packed his things swiftly. From the travelling bag, he pulled out another bag that was initially folded. He opened the wardrobe; Nagayoshi quickly held her breath due to the pungent smell. With much effort, Kakuzu stuffed Tanishi's already cold body into the spare bag. The original bag was carried by Nagayoshi. He grunted and nodded to his sister. "Alright, let's get going."

Coughing a little, Nagayoshi nodded back. Casually, as if nothing happened, Kakuzu checked out from the inn and the adoptive siblings left the small village. On their way out, they notice crowds surrounding the small tight alleyway where they killed their target last night. News were spread everywhere and controversies ensued. Kakuzu smirked behind his dark mask in triumph.

"Oniisan, have we done something good by killing this guy?" Nagayoshi asked. She looked back at the whispering crowd back in that alleyway.

Kakuzu looked down to his sister, "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know…I feel like…" she trailed off, lacked dictions to continue.

"Can't you just take things in a simple way? It's not bad to think big, but sometimes it's better to think of things in a compacted manner. In this case, let's just say not all goodness must be preserved. The world will be boring without chaos and disorder, don't you think?" He ruffled her head, like he always did. Nagayoshi smiled wryly.

"Simple ways, huh?"

**

* * *

**

**I've seen TONS of wolf Kakuzus in DeviantArt -_-; … This is where the challenge goes: how to change Nagayoshi's doctrinal views into that of a criminal. I won't do it quickly, since she has many years to learn about crime vs. justice. Often in many of my stories I tend not to understand what I had just typed. It's as if I'm failingly trying to get in touch with my philosophical self. Geez...speaking about teenagers and their big ego; I'm amazed that I actually admit that!**

_Next: Nagayoshi's first lesson in the way of crime. Beware of violence._


	10. Bird of Prey Hatchling

**Chapter 9: Bird of Prey Hatchling**

Inhalation…number thirty-seven.

"See you." Kakuzu nodded at the exchanger and walked back to the entrance with a newly stuffed briefcase. He nudged Nagayoshi (who had made a new breath-holding record) softly with his hand and they climbed up the stairs. After a dozen steps or so, they exited the exchange center that was hidden in…a butchery shack in an old-style Cantonese restaurant.

Well…

"You okay, Nagayoshi?" Kakuzu asked, looking down at the girl who had just released a long shot of exhalation.

"I am NOT okay!" she snapped, causing Kakuzu to jerk away a little. "Who the heck came up with the idea to build an exchange center in a butchery shack—among all those foul-smelled furless pigs, cows, goats, and poultry? It was by far the most disgusting thing I've ever seen!" she ranted furiously. On her side, Kakuzu rolled his eyes.

"You ain't seen anything yet." Kakuzu muttered drearily.

"I don't want to hear about it." Nagayoshi interrupted.

Kakuzu shrugged, "Suit yourself." And then he added, "Oh, just so you know, Nagayoshi, your training isn't finished."

Nagayoshi turned to him with questions spread across her face. One of her eyebrows perked upwards, nearly touching her hairline.

"It's not like the lessons the school taught you. No; this is actually much more personal. Since you're living with me, there is one crucial thing that I need you to be able to do." Kakuzu continued; his eyes turned grave.

Nagayoshi nodded comprehendingly. "Alright, no problem. By the way, what is it?" she asked.

"Can't tell you. I don't want to ruin the surprise. But please understand: it's not going to be a piece of cake."

Nagayoshi held the urge to gulp and changed it with nodding instead. From the way Kakuzu said it, her next task surely is not going to be a picnic. Her head lost its inclination and it stayed low for a good few seconds before Kakuzu's larger hand clasped either of her shoulder blades. She looked up to see a slightly warmer air.

"Don't worry. I believe that you can do it." he muttered.

Nagayoshi smiled, but small. "Thanks, Oniisan."

Even a smile often failed to hide the deepest darkness within a person.

**|-oOo-|**

However, a smile easily returned to this girl's face: just shoved her some delicious food in a good and friendly-aired restaurant (away from the Cantonese restaurant. Nagayoshi refused to eat there.) Kakuzu had learned that little anti-frowning trick long time ago. He didn't know why—probably because Nagayoshi used to live in the streets, thriving over stealing and pick-pocketing—but Nagayoshi had an 'amazing' appetite. He knew from the very first time they met that Nagayoshi loved apples. After he introduced her to more food, she developed new gastronomic crushes. Those include: dango (especially _chadango_), milk, fried octopus, boiled prawn, red rice, and seaweed. Pretty mouth-watering, yes?

"This isn't like you to have lunch outside, Oniisan. Tired of eating cupped noodles?" Nagayoshi asked, half-sneering. She had already made her order as soon as the menu was on her hands. The waitress nearly giggled upon looking her comical behavior. She didn't seem to mind Kakuzu's masked feature, however.

"You could say that. Well, there's nothing wrong with making a little change to our daily lifestyle, right? By the way, I'm rich again. Treating lunch for only the both of us won't be a hard thing to do." Kakuzu answered nonchalantly, choosing his food as well. For once, he didn't choose the cheapest food available (but not the most expensive either). "Still, you can't eat too much." he added, more coldly this time.

Nagayoshi unwaveringly nodded to his order. "Don't worry. My menu's price is actually cheaper than yours." she smiled casually.

"Including the drinks?"

"Including the drinks."

Kakuzu chuckled lightly. "You're smarter than I thought."

Nagayoshi pouted, "Is that a mockery or a compliment?" Kakuzu shrugged as an answer.

Their little conversation was distracted by a loud crashing of chairs and tables. It came from the direction somewhere behind Kakuzu. A woman screamed and a man shouted angrily. Kakuzu turned and Nagayoshi leaned to the side to see what was going on over there. There they saw a man, around his thirties, with a short beard that grew around his jaw line and connected to his hair, was pulling a woman's hair. The woman wore the same costume like the waitress that served Kakuzu and Nagayoshi. They immediately knew that that woman was the restaurant's waitress. The man shouted snappish insults at the woman while she cried and begged him to stop, which he didn't oblige. The man was wearing normal casual clothes, meaning he wasn't related to the restaurant.

Nagayoshi looked to her surroundings; none of the people even the manager of the restaurant stepped affront and saved the poor woman from the malicious man's merciless grip. Nagayoshi would like to help her, but again she was just a child. She could use her electric abilities, but she knew that would cause the already too much scene into something even more chaotic. Just as she felt enough of the silence, someone grabbed the abusive man's arm. It quite surprised Nagayoshi that it was her own brother who stopped the man from hurting the woman more.

"Would you stop it?" Kakuzu demanded coldly, unfazed by the man's bloody glare shot at him.

"What's your problem, jackass?! Can't you see I'm teaching this whore a lesson?!" he snapped at Kakuzu who remained bold.

"I know, but can't you do it on another day? This is the lunch hour and everybody in this place wants a peaceful meal. Your uproar ruins the atmosphere." Kakuzu explained his reasons calmly; although he would gladly kick the living daylight out of the man if he failed to please him.

Kakuzu and the man exchanged unfriendly stares for a couple of minutes before the abusive man threw the woman to the restaurant's manager and left angrily. Kakuzu watched him as he banged the entrance before the masked ninja casually walked back to his seat in which he found his and Nagayoshi's orders ready to be eaten. He took a quick sip of his drink as soon as he sat.

"It's not every day you stop a fight." Nagayoshi commented, taking a big munch of her food.

"Nah, that guy did get on my nerves. I don't like to eat my lunch under such commotion. It's something hard to get in the base." Kakuzu answered coolly, ever so often amazed his sister. "You were about to talk to that guy too, weren't you, Nagayoshi?"

"Yeah…but that's because I feel sorry for the woman he tortured."

The siblings continued their lunch with less talking. Since he ate lesser than Nagayoshi, Kakuzu finished first. Before anyone sat beside their table, Kakuzu hurriedly wore his mask back on. He purposely chose to sit on the far corner, his back facing the rest of the guests, to conceal his face as he ate. It worked successfully; nobody saw his face and no one freaked out. It was after he closed his face again did the manager plus owner of the restaurant came to approach him.

"E-excuse me, sir," the manager greeted timidly. His head was bald and he wore big round glasses. "I just want to thank you for helping my daughter." He bowed deeply to show his gratitude.

"Don't mention it." Kakuzu replied nonchalantly. "So this is a family restaurant, huh?"

"Y-yes…"

Kakuzu nodded, grasping the knowledge. "Is that all you need to say?"

"Yes. Uh, I mean—no! It's…can I ask you a favor?" he didn't wait for an answer from Kakuzu and proceeded after a hard gulping. "Seeing that you and the young lady wear a ninja headband, I figure I better ask you to, uh…" he trailed off, too nervous to say the next upcoming word. Nagayoshi fiddled with her chopsticks as she waited for the man to speak.

"To kill that guy?" Kakuzu finished, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"E-exactly. That…. He's been abusing my daughter for some time now. I can't stand it and I'm too cowardly to stop him myself." the manager rambled on. Before he continued saying things that Kakuzu didn't want to hear, the masked ninja raised his arm.

"Is he a bounty?" he asked.

The manager wiped the beads of sweat on the side of his head and his eyes looked everywhere but Kakuzu and Nagayoshi's table. He hung his head, "I don't suppose so…"

"Then I can't help you out." Kakuzu finalized, surprising both the manager and Nagayoshi. His sister decided to shut up, though, no matter how heavy her push to talk was.

The waitress that previously served them interjected all of a sudden. "Actually, he is." she said. "In the next town, 200 miles from here, he is a bounty. He's a gangster who tends to beat people who disobey his words. His prize isn't big though."

"If that's the case, I guess I can help out. The prize doesn't matter." Kakuzu said. Nagayoshi almost rolled her eyes. It was obviously like Kakuzu; he won't kill without money.

"Then let me offer you a lodgment. There's a spare room with two beds on the second floor, if you wish. It's the only thing we could do for your help." the manager offered with a growing smile of relief. "Honey, would you show them the room, please?" he said to his daughter, the waitress.

"Please, right over here." she beckoned them. Calmly, she escorted her guests to the second floor and to the second floor. It amazed Nagayoshi that, after a little observation, she didn't even once looked back, specifically to Kakuzu. The ten-year-old thought she would eye her brother warily, with her mind whispered negative things about the masked ninja. She was relieved to know that there are people who didn't mind Kakuzu's masked feature. She wondered what her brother's mind would speak.

She bowed before letting Nagayoshi and Kakuzu stepped into the guest's room. She turned on the lights, letting the bright white light bulb to show them the room's insides. She left, and the siblings were left awed by the simplicity and the neatness of the room. There were two beds, each separated by a nightstand with a night lamp on it. On the left side from the entrance's point of view, there was the door to the bathroom. Three feet beside it, was a wardrobe. Straight across the entrance, the window exposed to them the view of the street.

"Not bad! I could actually live here forever!" Nagayoshi remarked. She quickly inhabited the bed closest to the window. Kakuzu took the other bed and sat on it. He took off his cloak, no longer hesitant about his five-hearted attribute, and lied down on the bed. "You shouldn't be lying down after eating a big meal, you know." Nagayoshi commented.

"Who said so? I've done this for years yet I never had problems." Kakuzu responded. "You believed too much on those silly superstitions."

Nagayoshi grimaced before she said, "You just can't do something without being baited with money, can you?"

"Of course! Why should I help someone if they can't pay me back? It's just like eating thirteen bowls of ramen and still starving. That's what you call professional, kid." Kakuzu answered.

"Okay, I get that. Still, I never knew you'd kill a low-prized bounty. So far you've been hunting the big, high-prized ones. Something crossed your mind or something?"

Kakuzu drifted his eyes to the side, to the highly curious Nagayoshi. He smirked, and although he still had his mask on, Nagayoshi could sense the smirk being pulled under that black piece of cloth. "You'll see tomorrow." he simply said.

Nagayoshi's forehead suddenly met her palm with a thwack. "It has become your hobby to tease me like this, hasn't it?" she asked dejectedly.

"Can't help it. It's a big brother's duty to tease his little sister as often as possible." Kakuzu sneered, much more to Nagayoshi's annoyance.

**|-oOo-|**

"Are we going to wait forever or what? Why can't we just bust in and kick his butt directly?" Nagayoshi ranted, gripping a drainage pipe as she and Kakuzu hid on the top of a building, waiting for their target to come out of a strip club. A tanned fist met the top of her head with much power of sense. "Yow!" she yipped.

"Don't be stupid. I'm not letting you in to that place. At least…not for the next eight years. Anyway, can't you just be patient?" Kakuzu asked back.

"You know I can't. I'm lack patience." Nagayoshi retorted.

Kakuzu huffed exasperatedly, "That explains your lack of stealth as well. You need to work on that out." As soon as he finished speaking, a woman screamed and ran away from the strip club. That woman, however, wasn't one of the strippers. ("Phewh…" Kakuzu whispered.)

Their target was running after that woman, a sword in his hand. The woman was bleeding profusely; the siblings knew immediately that she got a pretty big cut from that sword. That was why she was running. Kakuzu nodded to his sister and they jumped from their hiding place. Nagayoshi's adrenaline rush began to pump. The two of them landed in front of the pursuing man, Nagayoshi had a kunai in her hand.

"You again!" the man growled. "You're gonna pay for it!"

"Oh yeah? Well then try and collect your debt!" Nagayoshi dashed and the man angrily obliged her challenge. Metal clashed and they both matched in strength. However, Nagayoshi confronted the blade too closely. When the man added more force, the tip of the blade could have sliced her head and make a two inches deep cut across her right eye.

Fortunately, before Nagayoshi loss half of her eyesight, Kakuzu had pulled her away briskly. He then moved forward, grabbed the man's arm and swung him 180 degrees upward and slammed to the ground. All that pain was done with one hand. The man squirmed on the ground, giving time for Kakuzu to give a short scolding to his sister. "You were too close. Watch your distance next time you're facing an enemy with swords."

"Sorry." Nagayoshi said meekly.

"Come. We're getting out of this town to the next." Kakuzu said, taking the man by the collar and dragged him mercilessly. They walked without talking until they exited the town and once again venture through the woods. About five to seven miles from town, Kakuzu stopped, saying in an excusing manner, "Oh, I just remember…the next town wants this bounty lifeless."

Once again, Nagayoshi felt the change of atmosphere from Kakuzu. The glint in his jade eyes reconfirmed Nagayoshi's awkwardness. Wolf Kakuzu had risen again.

The man's eyes bulged with horror and his mouth quivered. "Aaah! Dear god in heaven, please don't kill me! Please don't kill me! I don't wanna die!" the bounty cried and begged. His baby cry ceased for a while after Kakuzu ruthlessly knocked his head. The cry reduced into whimpers.

"Be quiet! And besides, I'm not the one who's going to kill you. It'll be her." he nodded at Nagayoshi who jumped due to the surprise.

"What—me?" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yeah, you." Kakuzu replied matter-of-factly. He withdrew the bounty's sword from the owner's hand and tossed it that it landed on the ground a few inches before Nagayoshi's feet. "Use it. Stab it to this guy." he told her nonchalantly.

"You…you want me to what?" Nagayoshi hesitated. Her fingers fidgeted, dilemmatic whether to touch the blade or not. Inexistent voices rang in her ears, persuading her to do anything, even the most irrelevant ones. She bit her tongue, effectively shutting those voices up.

"You heard me. I want you to kill." Kakuzu answered coldly. Nagayoshi shivered at the lack of emotions in his voice just now. All of a sudden, everything became clear. _This_ was the lesson he was talking about earlier yesterday. Killing; that was it.

Nagayoshi stammered, "B-but I had killed before!" She tried to decline his order in a way not too offensive. The images of Kakuzu killing the guy named Tanishi played in her mind again, this time much more vivid. All those smell…

"That was unintentional—I even dare say it was almost accidental. I want you to kill with an actual intention, an actual push. If you're going to live with me, you better get used to it. Now do as I say: stab it to him." Kakuzu shifted the man's position into kneeling with his head shoved affront and half-bowing.

Nagayoshi picked the katana up and held it like an ice pick. She stared at the bounty's tearful face as he looked up to see her. The man sobbed at her and his mouth trembled worse with fear. Nagayoshi began to feel sympathetic. He who abused women, feared by the townspeople was crying before her, a ten-year-old child.

"Don't do this, little lady. You're a good person—you don't have to do this. Please give me mercy. Think of what your parents will say if they see you like this." the bounty begged for more. At one point, he nearly succeeded in changing her mind. Nagayoshi took one sharp inhalation at the last statement of plea.

"They'll be proud." Kakuzu interjected, half-furious. "Now shut up before I tell her to make your death nice and slow." He snapped his eyes back to Nagayoshi, staring harder, wanting her to do her duty quickly. "Do it."

Nagayoshi's heart vehemently played bass drums inside her ribcage. Her brain lost its organizing abilities, making her arms to shake as she raised the blade higher that the man's head. Her breath unsteadied and the world around her blurred, except for the image of the blade and the dead-to-be head. Out of nowhere, as if shocked with high voltage electricity, her arms hurtled downwards with the blade tightly gripped and her world turned entirely into red…almost literally. She could feel copious amount of fluid splattering onto some part of her face and continued to dribble down her chin and neck.

She gasped, taking an abundant quantity of oxygen into her burning lungs as her legs gave away and she fell backwards to her rear. Her arms and hands still shivered with the residues of adrenaline and her eyes blanked. She didn't see anything else but emptiness while in reality her eyes were just fine. Her ears still caught the sound of Kakuzu dropping the dead body down and he proceeded to remove the sword from the brain.

What was actually Kakuzu's mask getting closer seemed like a dark blurry blob growing for Nagayoshi's blanked-of-shock eyesight. She could feel his arms wrapping around her and his head against one of her ears, but didn't pay much heed to it. Kakuzu rubbed her back and the back of her head. Slowly, he rocked her back and forth.

"It's okay, it's alright. You did a good job." he whispered to her ear. "You did a good job." he repeated. With this much closeness, Kakuzu could feel the slightest tremble from Nagayoshi's nerves. Right now, she wasn't just trembling slightly; she was shaking terribly. He thought, with this shaking and fast-paced air circulation, Nagayoshi would suddenly cry. Apparently, she didn't.

He tugged her hand, telling nonverbally to stand up and continue the journey to the next town. Nagayoshi did stand up but again her eyes landed upon the body she killed earlier. Quickly, she shut her eyes closed.

Kakuzu immediately comprehend her reaction and, while she was still not looking, wrapped the man's bloody head in the black bag he used to carry Tanishi's body. Once it was done, he told her, "It's alright. You can open your eyes now."

Hesitantly, Nagayoshi cracked her eyes open. Once she saw no more bloody head, she sighed. Kakuzu nodded and walked ahead of her. Keeping her distance from the dead body, she followed in a much slower pace than Kakuzu. Often as they walked, Nagayoshi stared at her own hands which still held the remaining of the kill. Every time she did, Kakuzu would lower her hands telling her without words to not to look at them.

Finally, after walking for a few miles and that the sun was down, they stopped, conveniently nearby a flowing river. Kakuzu dropped the body and stretched his arms. He turned to his sister who seemed to have not regained her sanity and common sense. He glanced at the river before back to her. "You better wash your face and your jacket. Bloodstains usually stay forever if you don't wash them fast." he said.

Nagayoshi nodded weakly and headed to the flowing water. Kneeling before the surface, she saw her own face. Half of it was covered in human red paint. Before her trauma episode recommenced, she splashed the aqua to her face. At the same time as cleansing her face, it also gave back her common sense and she felt alive again.

She sighed; the water's low temperature was exactly what she needed. She unzipped her black jacket and dipped it into the water. She scrubbed the bloodstain with her fingers. The small droplets had already hardened and decided to reside on the fabric. However, Nagayoshi was not going to let that endure. She scrubbed them hard and would use a rock for some of the already hard bloodstains. Successfully removing them, she tried to find a place to hang it up until it dried by, hopefully, tomorrow morning.

"Feeling more alive now?" Kakuzu asked upon seeing her hanging her jacket on a nearby tree. Nagayoshi nodded humbly and walked towards Kakuzu and the newly made campfire. She sat across him; the fire bridged their distance. "Want something to eat?"

Usually, Nagayoshi was a big fan of food and would immediate raise her hand when offered. However, this time, she had not the vibe anymore. It disappeared, replaced by a more unpleasing sentiment called nausea. She shook her head and hugged her knees. "No, thanks." she answered. "I don't feel like eating."

"You sure? We haven't eaten anything for the last few hours." Kakuzu reoffered but Nagayoshi's answer remained the same. He shrugged eventually, "Eh, okay. I'll have a big dinner then."

Nagayoshi watched her brother eat—what it seemed to her to be a wild pigeon. So Kakuzu really had had enough cupped noodles. She almost snorted to the thought. To avoid from being spotted by Kakuzu, she buried her face in between her knees. Her eyes drifted elsewhere: to the leaves above, to the stalking owl, to the unreadable insects, to the passive green grass, to the motionless ever-bluing feet—ah, no, not that!

The young kunoichi grinded her teeth to suppress a gagging urge. She slowly took a patterned breathing technique, effective to keep herself collected. At this ungodly hour, she just had to get reminded of those nauseating images. It looked all blurry; Nagayoshi had a hard time recalling the exact details. She was glad though that she couldn't remember the vibrancy. It was inevitably unforgettable at the same time. Not the image, more like the sensation—the feeling. Everything just spun around but in a whole different way than after getting pounded on the head with a hammer blow. The essence of metal and juice entered the receptors of the tongue, printing a new taste: the taste of blood.

Her eyes flew to her unruffled big brother. He stabbed the soil with the stick in which he used to roast the wild pigeon. He pulled his mask back up covering his mouth. He had killed people too; he said so himself. But why did he act as if everything was normal? Didn't he feel nervous? Surely people didn't want to see him carrying a dead body. Said mysteries happened when they carried Tanishi's body.

Oh, how about his different side? The wolf side—the side whenever he was about to kill someone? The first thing appeared in mind upon stating 'the wolf side' was that Kakuzu was indeed as ferocious as the namesake. Not just ferocious, he was also much more merciless and…he _enjoyed_ it. Wolves do enjoy killing; that's why they were born on the first place. However, no matter how much Nagayoshi liked to describe her brother with dog species names, Kakuzu was not a dog, let alone an animal. Therefore, killing wasn't his primary purpose of living.

Yet again, does he really enjoy taking people's lives? Well, what the kunoichi had to do was ask.

"Did it happen to you too, Oniisan?" Nagayoshi suddenly broke the silence. "I mean…all that shock and stuff happening in your head after you killed for the first time?" Nagayoshi asked. Before she got to the point, she wanted to know this first.

Kakuzu threw more sticks to the glowing fire, feeding the source of light more fuel to complete its task. His eyes coasted to the ambers ascending to the starlit night. His jade eyes looked strangely warmer with the glow of the scarlet flame. "I guess so. It was a long, long time ago—I can't seem to remember."

"Do you…enjoy…killing?" Nagayoshi fidgeted her toes as she asked this question.

"Most of the time, if they're related to bounty hunting; otherwise, I'm not really into it. I don't like wasting my time so don't expect me to kill for pleasure." he answered. For the first part, he almost convinced Nagayoshi that he was indeed a wolf.

"Of course not. You have got to be really pissed off to kill unnecessarily."

"That's right."

Nagayoshi blinked, "I am?"

"Yep. I have no idea where that tendency came from." Kakuzu confirmed.

"Oily food." Nagayoshi answered. Kakuzu perked one eyebrow up at her, demanding her to define her meaning. "I guess that's what you call high blood pressure." she added.

Kakuzu sneered, "Such big talk from a kid." He continued scoffing, regardless of his sister disapproval to said mockery expression.

"I'm a prodigy, remember?" Nagayoshi retorted pointedly.

"Whatever." Kakuzu rolled his eyes, sneering again afterwards. Soon, Nagayoshi chuckled as well before lethargy took the best of her. The night was getting late. "Go grab some Z's. You'll need the energy for tomorrow's whole-day journey." Kakuzu said upon seeing her yawning.

"Okay. Good night, Oniisan." Nagayoshi lay down on the grass. The warmth from the bonfire provided safety and as well as sleeping drugs. Her eyes fluttered lethargically until they closed, blocking all kinds of lights and dirt barraging her retina.

…

_"Don't do this!"_

_…_

_"Don't do this!"_

_…_

_"You're a good person!"_

_…_

_…_

_Good person…_

_Good…_

_Person…_

**"Do it."**

…

The tightly shut eyes slammed open dramatically. The once calm and motionless body vibrated with such tremor that it was visible even under a poor source of light. Barely fifteen minutes and she was up already. It wasn't the tremble that alerted Kakuzu, but instead it was a sharp gasp that escaped her mouth. Moreover, her breath didn't slow down.

"Nagayoshi," he called subdued. Her eyes immediately shot at him. Kakuzu knew that look everywhere; like someone survived Tsukuyomi and not knowing it. "Are you alright?" he asked. He watched her silhouette rose up and down as she briskly took every breath. He wondered what could cause the restlessness.

Nagayoshi tried to nod, but with her head on the ground, she had to adjust the movement. "Yeah…I'm…I'm fine." Her breathing slowed down. She had somehow felt better.

"I'm not going anywhere, so you know where to find me if you need…you know…comfort." Kakuzu said, throwing more sticks to the fire.

She pulled a quick smile. "Thanks."

Kakuzu nodded as a response. He felt slightly awkward when he said the word comfort. Like…how many times had he shared comfort with anyone else? He lost count; not because it had been so many times he forgot the numbers, but it was because it seemed to have never been done before that he couldn't remember even if it _had_ been done. He shrugged. _There's nothing wrong with being kind once in a while, isn't there?_ He said to himself. _At least I'm not doing it with that idiot…_

Kakuzu continued to feed the fire while he was not yet sleepy. He was about to drift to sleep, but his little responsibility curling on the ground if front of him kept him awake. For once, Kakuzu's heart(s) thumped to the sight of someone else's condition.

* * *

**Anybody, tell me when to crank up the rating. I don't think the story will get any cleaner from blood from now. Well, I'll try not to visualize them too detailed, but seriously…tell me if it's too gory for a T rating.**


	11. Hatchling's First Feed

**Chapter 10: Hatchling's First Feed**

"Nagayoshi! Nagayoshi!!" Kakuzu shouted, shaking his sister's shoulder harshly in order to snap her eyes open. Said girl roused wide-eyed, her obsidian pupils touched nowhere of her eye socket's edges until she moved them to the corner to meet Kakuzu's green ones. Kakuzu who was straight-backed and tense loosened his muscles and slouched slightly. He exhaled in respite; the slow shutting of his eyes accentuated it.

Meanwhile, Nagayoshi was panting and soaked in cold sweat. She was too shocked to realize it and only came to know it when she heard Kakuzu sighed. She remained sideways on the ground, waiting for Kakuzu to make his next move.

"What is wrong with you?" Kakuzu asked; one of his hands was on top of her upper arm. He rubbed them, giving warmth to Nagayoshi's chilling body.

"Wha—what do you mean?" Nagayoshi asked fretfully.

"First, you continuously twitched your eyebrows, your fingers or your feet. Then, second, you started to whimper as if I'm bugging you, which I didn't. Then you started to roll restlessly and eventually groaning so loud it was almost to the point you were shouting." Kakuzu paused, staring down at his befuddled sister. "That is _not_ a normal sleeping habit."

With his help, Nagayoshi sat up, rubbing her arms as she did so. Her eyes, however, didn't let go of the ground and Kakuzu's knees. Her breathing had stabilized, but not completely slowing down. The touch of Kakuzu's darker and bigger hands made her look up from the ground.

"Did you dream of something?" Kakuzu asked.

Nagayoshi looked down slightly and she answered, "I can only remember a few things." Kakuzu waited. "I can remember voices…the last one heard being yours."

"Mine?"

Nagayoshi nodded.

"Well…do you remember any images?" Kakuzu asked again.

Nagayoshi didn't speak of the answer, instead her eyes did. She flew her gaze to a pair of pale feet hidden behind a tree trunk. Unfortunately, even though it was supposed to be hidden, it was still easily spotted. Kakuzu followed the line of her gaze and found the same thing. He returned to his sister, cupping her face to divert her gaze from said unpleasant-looking object.

"Is that it?" he inquired, and Nagayoshi gave an immediate answer by nodding. "I see…. It's okay; it'll be over soon enough."

"Are you sure?"

Kakuzu nodded slowly and got up to his feet, pulling Nagayoshi together with him. "Now that we're awake, what if we just continue our journey? We might get there earlier than scheduled if we depart now." From the travelling bag, Kakuzu withdrew an apple. He shrugged, seeing that it was the last of the red fruit. He tossed it to the half-awake Nagayoshi. "You can eat that as we walk."

Along their journey, both of them ate a little—even Kakuzu didn't seem to eat anything since his dinner last night. Moreover, the trip was going to last until afternoon. On the way, Nagayoshi had difficulties keeping her own steady; one of the reasons was because of the lack of nutrition supply. Many times, she tripped and three times out of those many had the fall ended up with her face flattened to the ground. By doing so, she had successfully made Kakuzu break his forehead-slapping-in-one-day record.

"Would you watch where you're going?" Kakuzu ranted heatedly right after Nagayoshi's umpteenth fall. The girl silently rose, cleaning her dirty face and clothes. Without saying a thing, she moved on, only to bump onto Kakuzu's torso.

"Ah!" she shouted, rubbing her aching nose.

"You don't even know I'm here all the time." Kakuzu added sourly, shaking his head despairingly. He put his free hand (the one that didn't carry around the body) on his waist. He watched the young kunoichi rubbed her failing eyes. "You're sleepy." he deadpanned.

"I'm fine…"—she yawned widely. "Okay…maybe I am sleepy. But don't stop just because of me. Look, the town's only one and a half miles to go."

Kakuzu sighed and tugged her wrist. "Open your eyes. I don't want to drag two people." Kakuzu walked with a slightly quicker pace, forcing the lethargic Nagayoshi to open her eyes and jog beside the masked ninja. After a couple of minutes, she could hear the voices of people and the sight of a crummy little old town which was also their destination. She bumped onto Kakuzu again as the man stopped in front of what it seemed to her as a receptionist desk. Nagayoshi rubbed her eyes again and soon saw keys dangling in front of her. She lazily seized the key and looked up to her brother. "You go to the room now and get some sleep. I'm going to exchange the bounty. Careful; don't go to the wrong room." He ruffled her head, much to her nuisance.

She grunted huffily, "It's not like I lost my knowledge of letters and numbers!" And then she yawned, wider than the previous. "Oh well, see you after I'm alive again."

"I'll be back soon."

The brother and sister separated to two different ways. Nagayoshi was glad that Kakuzu didn't rent a room on the second floor or higher, or else she would just sleep on the stairs. She observed the number: 106. "Oof!" she grunted. For the third time, she bumped onto people. She knew it couldn't be Kakuzu, but the person in front of him was wearing a black cloak. There seemed to be another color, but she wasn't too sure. "Sorry." she apologized.

"Watch where you're going." a masculine voice said coldly. He went around Nagayoshi, followed by another man behind him.

Shortly, she found her designated room. She picked up her key and as the tip began to insert the keyhole, a pair of big and strong hands flipped her around, much to her half-conscious confusion. She tilted her head slightly to see a hand covered in—what it seemed to her continuously failing eyes—as a color blue. "Room 106's right there, kid. That was 109 you're about to go into." a heartier masculine voice guided her to the right room. The hand let go of her shoulders and she turned to meet the man's face but he had caught up with the man before.

"Thank you." Nagayoshi said too late. Shrugging, she unlocked the door and a room of two beds greeted her with a warm welcome. With her heel, she closed the door and flopped powerlessly to the nearest bed. She bothered not to open her sandals and proceed to hibernating mode. The keys in her hand fell clamorously to the wooden floor—which she ignored completely. She also ignored the fact that she forgot to lock the door.

**|-oOo-|**

_Mercy._

_"You're a good person!"_

**"Do it."**

_"You don't have to do this!"_

**"I want you to kill."**

_"Think of what your parents will say…!"_

"Aaargh!" Nagayoshi screamed all of a sudden, her eyes unlocked, her body zapped with a momentary spasm. A hand gripped hers tightly and she didn't need to see who owned the hand because there was only one who possessed such hand: big, calloused, and dark yet warm at one fell swoop. She panted and gripped back Kakuzu's hand. How relieved she was to know that her brother was there right when she needed him.

"Glad I'm back on time." Kakuzu muttered. He sat on the edge of Nagayoshi's bed as the girl sat up and snuggled to his chest. "I never see you this perturbed before. Your mental is really screwed up."

"I heard voices again, Oniisan." Nagayoshi whimpered.

"I know, I know. Now how about you hold your story and have something to eat? I bought onigiri for us. It's not bargain basement priced, but…ah, just eat." Kakuzu said, taking one for him as well. "We haven't eaten anything all day. Maybe that's also why you're so sleepy."

"Yeah…and the dreams too. What's inside it?"

"Tuna. I know you don't like pickles."

"Oh. Right, _itadakimasu!_" Nagayoshi chomped the preserved ball of rice. The two ate in silence; Kakuzu occasionally glanced to his sister, checking her well-being. She seemed more alive to him now that she had eaten a few balls of onigiri. The silence broke when she asked, "Do you bought apples?"

"No, I don't." Kakuzu answered plainly.

"Ah man! Now the meal isn't complete!"

"Stop complaining! It's good enough you ate one this morning. It's just an apple anyway. You can eat them anytime you get one."

"You usually buy some. What, was it too expensive?" Nagayoshi asked.

"No, I don't think so."

"Then why not?" Nagayoshi pouted, demanding for an immediate answer.

Kakuzu huffed grumpily while at the same time, mentally, he was astonished that this girl could start a light argument just by asking for apples. Somehow, he'd rather argue about his order on killing a man instead. At least that one would worth the breath wasted to snap at each other. But this…? He glanced sideways to his sister's glower bitterly and answered, "There are no apples in this town, understand? I couldn't find one."

"No apples?! You gotta be kidding! How is this town supposed to survive? Why don't they cripple into dust? Why are they still standing tall?"

"There is no myth saying that never eating apples would end up in self-disintegration, okay?! You're inventing that up!" Kakuzu growled, one eye had started to twitch. "You're going to be just fine as long as you eat something."

"I know that but…I just don't feel enough…" Nagayoshi frowned.

"Someday, you'll feel long days without eating them. You're not in heaven, Nagayoshi, so things won't appear magically as you wish for it. I feel the same too about money, but as much as I don't want to lose them, I still have to give them away. Most especially, that I have to feed myself as well. I'm lucky I still have my logic." Kakuzu replied. It also amazed him that just by starting an argument about apples he could end up giving a lifetime advice. Now he understood why Adam was banished from the heavens just because of an apple. He massaged the bridge between his eyebrows when a thought struck him. "I think I know what caused your nightmares."

"Really? What?"

"It's something normal, I guess, because I felt it too when I was young." Kakuzu said. "You're just having a trauma after killing that guy. Well, it was partially my fault too; I compelled you to do it, so there are more pressure in you." he added.

"Trauma? Wait, Oniisan, you had this kind of thing too? You had nightmares after you made your first kill?"

Kakuzu nodded. "It was vivid. I could remember the blood on my hands. That…and the fact that my first victim was…" Kakuzu shut his eyes and shook his head, "…someone I know too well. It wasn't a sweet memory."

"Aw, I'm sorry. Is that means I'm luckier?"

"Eh, not really. You made your first kill in such young age. I was a young adult back then."

"So you're suggesting that I'm not that lucky…huh?"

Kakuzu didn't answer, knowing that it was rhetorical question. Kakuzu had had enough onigiri and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He stood up and headed for the sink in the bathroom, to take a glass of water. Kakuzu was cautious of the water's purity. In this crummy town, who knows whether the water's clean or not. After testing it for a while, he decided to drink it. When he got out of the bathroom, Nagayoshi spoke again.

"This time, the last thing I heard in my dream was when that man saying 'Think of what your parents will say'. Honestly, he almost made me change my mind as soon as he said that." Nagayoshi said, backing away from the edge of the bed to the opposite end, where her back met the off-white painted wall. She hugged her knees.

Kakuzu covered the remaining uneaten onigiri and sat on the same place where he sat on previously. He looked to the slightly more somber figure of Nagayoshi. "Then why didn't you change your mind?" he asked.

Nagayoshi shook her head slowly. "Because you said they'll be proud. I trusted you. But now…after rethinking of it, I wonder how they feel right now."

Kakuzu bit the insides of his lower lip. He felt blameworthy for her change of mind. He only said what needed to be said that time so that Nagayoshi would finish the whining guy already. Truthfully, he was anxious when the man stated those words. He knew that Nagayoshi was an orphan before he met her. However, he never knew what kind of bond that she and her biological parents shared. He clasped and unclasped his fist uneasily but flick off the feeling of discomfort to ask, "How much of memories with your parents can you remember?"

Nagayoshi's eyes expanded and she shot him a startled gaze before descending her eyelids again. "None." she answered soberly. "I have no memories of them. Akira-nee said she found me abandoned. She saw no one near the river, so she couldn't tell who had abandoned me. I found it a hard time to believe that my parents actually did that to me."

The jade pupils of Kakuzu swam in the middle of the red sea of his sclera as she unfolded her story. So she had no clue of her parents. She could be said as born orphan. Kakuzu blamed himself for asking such questions. Just like she knew not much of him, he did not know much about Nagayoshi either. Despite all the years where they lived together in Kumogakure, they never shared the story of their past. Kakuzu was supposedly the first one to tell his; told her how he received those stitches, although not through the details. Instinctively, he grasped one of Nagayoshi's hands.

"We're the same, Nagayoshi." he muttered. "We've been through a rough childhood. Trust me; mine wasn't a fairy tale either. Tell me, what do you feel about your parents right now?"

"I might sound selfish or something, but to be honest, I hate them. They abandoned me, as if I'm nothing. I don't know what they have in mind, which only makes me to hate them more."

"It's normal if you think like that. I'm pretty sure I'd feel the same if I'm in your position."

"Then again, if they don't ditch me, maybe I'll never meet you, Oniisan." Nagayoshi added, smiling as she finished. Kakuzu bloated his eyes a little, blinking a few times quickly. Nagayoshi circled her arms around his shoulders. Kakuzu smiled a little and put his arms around her back.

**|-oOo-|**

The next morning was less strident than the previous. Nagayoshi woke up with less shouting, although the same spasm. The voices hadn't completely disappeared from her head, but she was feeling a little lighter on the mind and her sleep (at least for the first three hours) was quite tight. The conversation she and Kakuzu had last night sort of helped. After eating the leftover onigiri and cleaned themselves, they were ready to go back to the Akatsuki hideout. This time, there shall be no more falling or tripping in the woods.

Kakuzu took the initiative to speed their journey because he was pretty sure he was late going back to the base. The two ninjas hopped from tree branch to tree branch as soon as they left the town. They both agreed that they disliked that dirty town. Even Kakuzu saw one or two filth on the streets when he went back from buying onigiri to the hotel.

Nagayoshi jumped behind Kakuzu. The wind swiped back her boyish short hair in every jump, and in every landing her hidden sensors buzzed. They caught the taking off of birds, the rapid wing flapping of an insect, the dash of a rabbit or a raccoon down below, the jumping of a group of people…

Wait, people?

Nagayoshi hit her brake; she stood still to confirm her sensory. Kakuzu slowed down upon seeing her standing still on a tree branch a few feet behind him. Hence, he stopped too. He wondered if she was taking a breather, but she didn't look like she was tired. Her face was more serious and serious never meant anything else.

The young kunoichi focused on the movement more. She tried to count how many of them coming towards her. She felt six people; six people were after her and Kakuzu and they seemed to be ninjas. One of them was getting closer really fast and _whizz!_

Nagayoshi grabbed a kunai and blocked the one that was coming toward her. More of them came barraging at her, forcing her to hop to the next branch. Kakuzu saw what happened and jumped back, bracing his fist. Six ninjas in all-black outfit surrounded them, each of them held a different kind of weapon. The siblings glared at them daringly and they returned the glare with the same intensity.

"What do you want from us?" Kakuzu snarled at them.

"That briefcase of yours. It looks full of money." said one of them, supposedly the leader of the six.

"Over my dead body, bitches."

"Tch. As you wish." He clicked his fingers and his men roared and swung their weapons at Kakuzu and Nagayoshi.

Kakuzu raised both of his arms at them and a quarter length of his lower arm launched off from the rest of the body, seizing two of the men's throat or the front of the shirt. With the black tendrils keeping them intact with the rest of his body, Kakuzu veered the men to slam against their comrades. Behind him, Nagayoshi fought them head-on.

Dodging a sword slice and a club mace, Nagayoshi kicked one man on the chin, severely crashing his teeth and kneed at the other one's jaw. One man managed to catch her arms, but learning from experience of sparring with Kakuzu, she grappled the man's head, somersault, and landed on her capturer's diaphragm. That effectively released her caught arms; luckily, this man wasn't as heavy as her brother.

Kakuzu bent his back backwards, evading from a lance strike. With his hands hardened with an earth jutsu, he could easily break the lance like a tooth pick. Too slow, the unfortunate man's wrist was caught by the masked ninja. They stared for a second; Kakuzu's eyes showed less than amused. "You pricks are a bunch of idiots." he growled, followed by an agonizingly loud crackle. The man howled in pain, he doubled over and grabbed his severely twisted wrist.

He grunted when a sword sliced the side of his abdomen. That was it; Kakuzu was totally unhappy. He was expecting a nice quiet journey when Nagayoshi wasn't sleepy and these guys just had to come and ruin his day—by unethically demanded for his money. More crackle was heard from the same person as Kakuzu's heel sank into the man's torso. The ribcage broke apart, damaging his lungs and heart, thence resulting in his demise.

Now he faced the man that just sliced his side. Easily, he shattered the sword and hurled the pieces to the owner, piercing the front vital organs. Kakuzu turned to face another two that attacked him. He ran at them with a war cry.

Nagayoshi was terrified upon hearing the torturing crackles. She dared to take a peek; a man was left dead in a menacing condition. She knew it was Kakuzu's doing. She thought he won't kill unless necessary—or pissed off. After looking at him right now, though, she was convinced that he was positively pissed off.

A thin yet sharp flat metal pierced through her shoulder blade. Good thing she dodged or else it would go through her flesh instead. Reconsidering of what Kakuzu had done, that meant she had to draw blood from this person. Nagayoshi tried not to; she simply kicked the man on the face, causing him to stumble down the tree. But then he rose again, trying to attack her again. It just won't stop and she was pretty sure she gave the hardest kicks to these people.

_Some people just won't learn, Nagayoshi. Don't you just hate them?_

_Ugh…they're getting on my nerves,_ Nagayoshi growled in her mind. Setting her mind to ignore the pain, she gripped her kunai tighter. With the other hand, she tossed two shuriken, jabbing right through the man's thighs. He doubled over, giving Nagayoshi the chance to penetrate him. With her kunai, she attacked at the heart. The same liquid smothered her hands. Her breath quickened and she struggled with her mental to stay strong.

"Agh!" Nagayoshi grunted when she was attacked from behind. Her wrists were locked behind her back. She tried to ram with her head but the other man dodged his head. Nagayoshi glared at the man, snarling.

The man who caught her wrists chuckled mockingly, "What are you going to do now, little girl? Call for your partner? Squeal like a girl would do."

Growling, Nagayoshi said, "Let go of me!" Her brain automatically initiated her electric chakra to flow through her skin and leech out of her pores. The electric surge licked the man's hand palm, cause him to release her wrists at once due to the shock. Nagayoshi turned around and punched him square on the face, breaking his nose. While the man was doubling over, groaning, Nagayoshi stared at both of her hands. Her hands just did something when she thought of releasing chakra to her hands. She grinned.

Nagayoshi grabbed the previous man's head, the bottom of her palm touching a little of his forehead. "Mind if you become my guinea pig? I have an experiment to try." She began to focus, trying to release at least ten percent of her chakra. She could feel the energy flowed through her veins and seeping through her pores in a speed of lightning shooting in the sky. Her target screamed in a shaky manner; the electricity attacked his brain cells. He dropped motionless as soon as she released her hand.

"Cool! I'm a living electric chair!" Nagayoshi whooped. She then looked at her brother, ditching her excitement for the mean time. He was currently punching the leader into a pathetic pulp. He shouted insults at him angrily. As she was about to dash to see closer, she spotted another ninja lurking silently behind him.

"I just hate weak punks like you ruining my day! I don't care what it sounds like to you, but you're gonna die today, asshole!" Kakuzu shouted, flying another rock-solid punch at the leader. He grabbed the man on the collar, "Any last words?" he growled.

The battered leader spit out his loosed tooth and grinned with swollen cheeks. From the reflection of his eyes, Kakuzu noticed one of his minions rising up a sickle to be sliced across his back. When Kakuzu turned, the man with the sickle grunted, his eyes froze and his arm dropped along with the sickle from his fingers. Kakuzu froze to see what happened; why did this guy stopped?

The body dropped frontward, happened to be lifeless. There was a kunai sticking deeply into the back of his skull. Then a clapping of hands was heard and Kakuzu raised his sight again. Nagayoshi crossed her arms, grinning at him. It was almost unbelievable for him; did she just killed and _smiled_? Apparently, Nagayoshi noticed his bewildered look and scowled.

"Oniisan, what are you waiting for? Finish him right now! Or do you want me to do it?" Nagayoshi asked, tapping her foot rhythmically.

Kakuzu turned back to the guy in his merciless gripping and gave him a dark glare. The man shut his eyes, expecting a multiple stabbings on his body. Yet, it didn't come. Instead, he dropped him as if he was cancelling the kill. Just as he was about to sigh, black tendrils wrapped around his neck, asphyxiating him. And…_crack!_

That last snapping sound acted as if it triggered the pouring of rain. The body of the leader dropped dead to the tree branch, slipped and plunged to the ground fifteen feet below. Nagayoshi used the pouring water to wash her blood-soaked hands, and then she put on the hood of her jacket to cover her head.

Kakuzu turned around again, meeting his sister who stared at him blankly at first and then pulled up a smile. He almost distrusted that smile; it was a little unbelievable for him. She was having nightmares of killing just last night and now she was smiling and even killed half of the group. Even her hands were covered in blood. He felt that he just had to ask, "Are you alright?" It was rather a ridiculous question because of course she was alright, except for the cut on her shoulder.

"Yeah. What is it? You looked like you've seen a ghost."

"Uh, nothing. It's just…you killed people just now." Kakuzu had difficulties in uttering his point of asking.

Nagayoshi perked her eyebrow.

"I mean, you had nightmares recently because of that first kill you did. You almost lose your sanity after that one and now…you just did the exact same thing! Aren't you…traumatized or something?"

"Oh." Nagayoshi replied comprehensively, cupping her chin. "You're right. Actually, when I stabbed the kunai into one man's flesh, I was kind of terrified. But I don't know; something just suddenly erased that fear. You know…it's like the first time you try swimming. You were scared of the water at first but after trying and swimming a few laps, you just suddenly capable of doing it and get used to get wet. I think you can put it like that."

"So are you telling me you have got used to taking people's lives?" Kakuzu inquired.

"Not completely, maybe, but I can do it now. By the way, I have new technique that I discovered just now! And since I've mastered _Raihou_, it's easy to do. It's as easy as climbing trees!" Nagayoshi grinned, holding up both of her hands.

After staring silently for a few seconds, Kakuzu chuckled amusedly, "Well, you adapt fast. I just hope you don't scream more in your sleep." Kakuzu intended to ruffle her hair like he would always do, but with her hood on and the sky was crying, he couldn't. So instead he nodded curtly, "Let's go."

"Alright!" Nagayoshi followed her brother jumped from tree to tree, decelerating their speed due to the slipperiness of the wood bark. And about the bodies…bah, someone would probably use their bodies for good. Maybe for dinner?

If you get my drift…

* * *

**Seriously, should the rating be punched up to M as in now? Although I myself said it's not yet necessary since the amount of blood is still quite acceptable for T. Geez…so much trouble for one short chapter… At one point, Nagayoshi almost reminded me of Ryuk because of her love to apples. Don't you think so?**


	12. Men In Black

**Chapter 11: Men in Black**

"EYAAAAAH!!!"

That was the sixth time for Nagayoshi causing such screams to people by simply touching her hand to their heads. She began to like zapping off people's brain cells. It was everything she wanted: less bloody mess (although she wasn't scared of it anymore), fast, and easy to use. And since the journey back to Akatsuki's base took several long days, Kakuzu put her improved affinity to good personal use. Not that she complained anyway; she wanted to try them out very badly, after all. What do you call it—a win-win situation?

Nagayoshi groaned and fell to her knees to catch some air. Six times in a day was the most she had ever done so far. It was unusually tiring; while she was quite sure she could use more _Raihou_. She was considerate of her chakra usage too, so she should still have some left. However, limit was a limit and she was not going to push it.

"Time-out!" she exclaimed, raising a hand. "I need a break."

"Hmph, you asked for a street fight." Kakuzu rejoined coldly. "And I've kindly searched for low-prized weak bounties for you to nail at. I should at least have my share." he added.

Nagayoshi glowered at him before panting some more. "Oh, fine! You can have half of it!"

"Seriously?" Kakuzu chortled amusedly. "Aren't you the best sister ever?" he somewhat roughly patted her head and picked three bodies easily. "You sure got a strange present for this year's birthday."

Nagayoshi chuckled heartily as she dragged the other three bodies with more effort needed rather than that needed by her brother. Nagayoshi used to have no clue about her birthday—she didn't even know what a birthday is. Kakuzu then suggested that she better chose a date that she could adopt as her birthday. Through Kakuzu's point of view, it wasn't for giving presents, but it was so that Kakuzu could remember how old she actually was. After counting the days on the calendar, Nagayoshi decided that her birthday shall fall on the fifteenth of July which was the day she and Kakuzu became siblings.

Nagayoshi never really expected presents other than apples. She wasn't really a girl with material wishes. This year, as she turned eleven, she wanted to try out and test her newly developed auto-killing ability that she discovered a week ago. She gave it no specific name; she's not going to say it out loud, anyways.

They exchanged the six bodies, caught the exchanger flabbergasted, get their prizes, and cut it in half. If there was a day where Kakuzu obviously showed that he was extremely excited, it was this very day. They arrived at a small town just right when the sun was almost down. They rented a hotel room closest to the border of the town. They dropped their load on beside their bed and lie down (or just sit on the edge of the bed) to regain their energy.

_Grwl…_

"I know that sound everywhere." Kakuzu muttered, resisting the urge to cover his face with his hands, which he failed.

Nagayoshi grinned meekly at him, letting out an awkward laugh. "Sorry…my stomach is always hard to compromise with. It must have because I zapped people's brain cells too many times. Hey, Oniisan, let's eat outside."

"Gah! I knew it would end up like this." Kakuzu grumbled. "Didn't I tell you that eating in public places is expensive?"

Nagayoshi frowned. "I know! It's not like every day I want to eat outside! Anyway, it's actually more expensive if we make our own food. You see, you have to buy each ingredient separately. You're lucky if they're cheap, but most of them now are just expensive." she rejoined.

"Damn, you're right." Kakuzu grunted. A thought struck his mind afterwards and he stood because of it, making Nagayoshi setting up her face to look confused. "I might just know a solution. We're in this town, anyway. How could I ever forget? Come on."

At the same time as she was happy, Nagayoshi was perplexed. Kakuzu just somewhat looking forward to eat outside, and that was absolutely not normal. She kept wondering even as she was waiting for Kakuzu to lock their room's door. She then noticed two men going out at the same time as them. Strangely, they wore similar cloaks as Kakuzu. The taller of the two turned to see who their neighbors are and his rounded white eyes seemed like it expanded slightly, although normally it always looked like it was expanding. A wide smile crept to his face and Nagayoshi raised an eyebrow toward him.

"Hey, you're that kid!" he pointed at her, much to her surprise, and his voice was jovial despite his big body size. Nagayoshi felt like she heard his voice somewhere.

"Uh…do we know each other?" Nagayoshi asked.

The tall man whose skin was light blue pouted as he walked towards her. Nagayoshi had to crane her neck up to stare at the man's face since he was awfully tall. Now that she could see his face, she noticed the rows of sharp teeth hidden behind the skin and bones of his jaws. He carried a giant item on his back, wrapped in bandages. "Damn, I'm disappointed that you don't remember me. You look livelier than last time, though."

Livelier than last time? Now Nagayoshi understood; he must be one of those men who helped her directed her to the right room. She put a fist on top of an opened palm, "Ah, now I remember! Sorry, I guess I really was half-alive back then." She laughed genially, rubbing the back of her head. "Well, I have to say thank you for helping me then."

The blue man chuckled before he lifted his head and waved, "Hi there, Kakuzu! Never imagine finding you here!"

"Likewise, Kisame. So you and Nagayoshi had known each other?" Kakuzu asked.

"Eh…not really. I just sort of helped her going to the right room. She almost went inside someone else's."

Nagayoshi blushed to Kisame's revelation and awkwardly met Kakuzu's indifferent stare. "I think I remember telling you not to go to the wrong room."

"Shut up…" Nagayoshi hissed.

"Oh! I almost forgot; I know Leader-sama had told you about him but you guys haven't officially met." Kisame said. The shorter man whom was with Kisame walked towards the three of them. This man turned to be a teenager. Unlike the blue man, this boy looked just like any normal person. He has smooth long black hair, darker than Nagayoshi's. His skin was pale and his eyes were pitch black and downcast, giving a completely silent and even an almost soulless air. He remained silent even as Kisame introduced him, "This is my partner. His name's Itachi. Itachi Uchiha."

Kakuzu contemplated over the young man. "He's very young. You're like what, thirteen when you joined in?"

Itachi in response only uttered a half-hearted 'Hn' and Kakuzu knew that meant yes. "I'm fifteen now." the boy muttered delicately. His voice, though, was smooth; like snow in a fine, non-windy winter afternoon.

Kakuzu nodded. Then by putting a hand on one of Nagayoshi's shoulder, he said, "You haven't introduced yourself. Go."

"Right! I'm Nagayoshi, nice to meet you!" Nagayoshi introduced herself merrily, holding out a hand to Kisame.

The blue man's smile crept up wider, "Kisame Hoshigaki. Say, you have an exceptional name, Nagayoshi." said Kisame, shaking Nagayoshi's hand with a power that shook the girl's body altogether.

"Thanks!" she grinned, disregarding the impact of the shake.

"Well, Nagayoshi and I are about to have our dinner outside. What do you say? You want to join us?" Kakuzu offered. "But don't expect me to pay for you guys."

Kisame chortled, "Hahaha! Kakuzu, you haven't changed now, have you? I'd love to join; what do you say, Itachi-san?" he turned to the younger man.

Itachi shrugged subtly, "I don't think it's a bad idea. I'm hungry, anyway."

"Alright!"

**|-oOo-|**

"Oh…! So she's the little girl you told us! How far has she improved ever since the last time you mentioned her?" Kisame asked with full of attention. He laughed afterwards, "Hey, your partner's also from Kumo, right, Kakuzu?"

"Don't remind me of him and his annoying jokes!" Kakuzu snapped. "If you want to see how good Nagayoshi is, you should see when she executed six bounties earlier today. Well, those punks aren't the best ninjas ever, of course. She's still not powerful enough to fight against the champions of the world."

"Well, duh! But I swear I will be strong to beat them all up!" Nagayoshi retorted passionately.

Kakuzu scoffed, "Oh, please! You can't even make me fall down to the ground. You're still a weak little genin. Plus, you only mastered one jutsu and it was inherited from me. You still have a long way to go, kiddo." He patted her head, pushing it down slightly to tease her around. Nagayoshi giggled and threw his hand away.

Itachi watched them with his downcast eyes. The way Kakuzu put his hands on her head playfully (although his facial expression didn't really show much) and the way Nagayoshi giggled made his black eyes to show a very subtle glint. He stood and slid out of their table. "I need to go." he said quickly. With a wide pace, Itachi headed to the men's toilet.

"Huh, Itachi must've eaten a lot." Nagayoshi commented.

"Really? That didn't look like a lot of fat to me." Kakuzu replied.

"I don't know. He didn't look good just now." Kisame added. "Maybe he did eat a lot."

"You said his name was Uchiha, right?" Kakuzu asked; Kisame nodded, reconfirming his answer. "Could he be the one who slaughtered his own clan? I read it on the newspaper when it happened. He must have something that exceeds the other members of the clan to be able to kill them all."

Nagayoshi looked at her brother with a gaze that was not playful anymore. She then turned to Kisame, whose face was not far different from hers. The shark-nin then said, "I probably shouldn't say this, but Itachi-san does have something that most Uchiha members don't have. He has the Sharingan, but his Sharingan is much more advanced than the normal ones. It was rumored that there are only two people including himself that holds it."

"_It_? What is 'it'?" Kakuzu inquired. Nagayoshi, too, was holding down a question.

"The mythical Mangekyou Sharingan. It's one of the most powerful Genjutsu vessels in the world. I've seen him use that eye before, being his partner I am. I can't see what was happening, but I know it's a powerful eye. His target suffered mental trauma for god knows how long."

"No wonder he wants him in Akatsuki."

"Who? Leader?"

Kakuzu didn't answer immediately, but he nodded, "Yeah, him."

"Oniisan, what's Sharingan?" Nagayoshi asked.

"It's an eye exclusively owned by the Uchiha clan. It was said that the eye enables the owner to read their opponent's movement five seconds before they launch it. That was as much as I know. I never really study on Sharingan before, although I had encountered one."

Nagayoshi whistled, "Wow, that sounds cool. But if Itachi slaughtered every people in his own clan, doesn't that mean he's the only one left?"

"I suppose so." Kisame shrugged. "He never told me anything."

"Itachi isn't a chatterbox, is he? Hehehe, Oniisan's not much of a talker too. But I just know how to push that button!" Nagayoshi grinned mischievously at her masked brother.

"Hey, Kakuzu, this might sound a little…rude…but isn't it kinda inappropriate for her to call you 'Oniisan'? When you seriously said you adopted her, I thought she's going to be your daughter or something." Kisame said.

Kakuzu didn't answer, instead the bridge between his eyebrows creased. His eyes glared sternly at the shark-nin who gulped. On the other hand, Nagayoshi stared at him in perplexity. "Daughter? Why should I be his daughter? Oi, Oniisan!" Yet, Kakuzu was not persuaded to answer.

"Don't you know it, Nagayoshi? Kakuzu's age is…let me see…83, I guess. I've done my quick math. Heck, he should've been your grandfather!" Kisame stated.

Kakuzu rolled his eyes as soon as Nagayoshi gaped at him, her lower jaw hanging loosely. It threatened to flop off if he didn't snap at him. "_Don't. Look. At me. Like that_." His green eyes then shot at Kisame piercingly, "You shouldn't say that. I don't like to be reminded of my age."

Kisame laughed hesitantly, "Man, I'm sorry. I figure she better know about it."

"Yeah, now that she knows it, she won't look at me the same way again." Kakuzu grumbled, covering his face with one hand. Silently, he peeked to the young kunoichi, still finding her gaping at him only with mouth slightly shut. He growled again.

"Tell me, Oniisan, how do you stay young for so long?" Nagayoshi suddenly asked, after a deathly long awkward silence. During that silence, Itachi returned from the toilet. If only everybody wasn't so tongue-tied, they would have noticed Itachi's obviously puzzled look.

Kakuzu stared at her ditheringly before he sighed, "You've seen it. My multiple numbers of hearts helped me to continuously renew my life span and supply new cells for the skin. As simple as that. Now I demand you not to change our status."

"No problem! But that means I have to be careful with you now. I don't want to stress your bones too much." Nagayoshi said, smiling and tapping Kakuzu's arm good-naturedly. Kakuzu blinked for a moment before he finally understood the veiled message at the same time as Kisame's bursting uproar of laughter. He drilled both of his fists on Nagayoshi's head whilst the young kunoichi was laughing as hard as the blue ninja. A pulsing vein visibly pumped on the side of his head.

"Damn great, now I'm a laughing stock." Kakuzu grumbled.

Nagayoshi ceased her laughter with much effort. She ended with a long wheeze. "Geez, relax, Oniisan…" —Snorts— "I was just joking!"

"Well, it wasn't funny." Kakuzu retorted.

"Really? I found it hilarious!" Kisame added. His answer did not make Kakuzu feel better.

"I don't get what's going on." Itachi mumbled, rolling his eyes mentally.

**|-oOo-|**

Because of the same schedule, Kisame and Itachi joined Kakuzu and Nagayoshi going back to the headquarters. As usual, Itachi had no comment, but he agreed on going back together—on whatever reason. Kisame, on the other hand, was more than delighted on having an additional companion. His delightedness was closely imitated by the young kunoichi while her brother was wary of the potentially new closeness.

He won't be so cagey if Nagayoshi befriends someone who was about her own age. Unfortunately, Kakuzu lacked trust in his Akatsuki comrades and Nagayoshi was immediately chattering with the blue ninja. Those two factors switched on his safety alarm. Nevertheless, he seemed to be alright if Nagayoshi hang out with Itachi instead.

The four of them jumped from trees to trees for the next few hours. Then their eyesight reached a small lake bordered by a cliff of sharp rocks. On the surface of the lake, a gargantuan boulder sat snugly in front of what it seemed to be a cave. Led by Kakuzu, the three Akatsuki and the subordinate of the masked ninja plunged towards the body of water and landed right on the surface. They stopped running whereupon the bottom of their shoes touched the surface of the water.

Nagayoshi ogled at the boulder. It has a rectangular piece of paper adhered to its center. She knew it was a seal. It must be equipped for anti-intruder purposes, she thought. She wondered on how to enter into the other side of the boulder but, to her surprise, the Akatsuki walked to the farther left of the boulder. Nagayoshi ran and caught up to their steps. "Hey, where are you guys going? Isn't the entrance over there?" she asked, pointing at the colossal boulder with a paper seal on it.

"If you're an intruder, then yes. You can take off the seal and get in, but then you'll fall to our trap. Anyway, if you do succeed and enter, you'll only find a normal cave." Kakuzu answered. Afterwards, he braced his ringed finger affront. Kisame and Itachi did the same thing too. The Akatsuki aligned side by side and three holes appeared in front of each of them. Kakuzu grabbed a kunai and Nagayoshi's hand. With the tip of the kunai, he caused a small hemorrhage on the last digit of the girl's index finger.

Nagayoshi winced to the sting; she could feel the small vein pumping altogether with flowing blood. "What was that for?" she asked crossly. Before she made an attempt to suckle her liquid, another hole dug itself down in front of Nagayoshi.

"On my command, put your finger inside the hole." Kakuzu explained. He nodded and he, Kisame, and Itachi stamped their ring into their respective holes. Nagayoshi slipped her bleeding finger in hers, and a waiting process occurred. When the three men withdrew their rings, Nagayoshi hastily pulled out her finger. She blinked profusely once she saw no sight of hemorrhaging from her finger. She wondered on how it happened.

A rectangular shape concaved inside and slid to the side, giving access to the four of them. Nagayoshi gaped upon knowing the existence of a secret entrance. "What the hell?!" she exclaimed, pointing accusingly at the unveiled doorway. Kisame chortled and stepped inside behind Itachi into a dark grotto.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Kisame added.

Still with the same astound, Nagayoshi followed the three men. "Anybody care explaining all that to me?"

Kakuzu sighed, "It's obvious that its function is to prevent outsiders finding out about the Akatsuki's whereabouts. That entrance was exclusive to members and subordinates only. Your name has been registered as my subordinate, that's why you're allowed to enter." The masked ninja explained.

"Oh, okay. Now why is it so dark in here?" What she got this time was a pound on the head. "AH!"

"Just shut up and walk, will you?" Kakuzu snapped.

"Fine…fine…" she growled. "Crotchety old timer…"

"You say something?"

"Nothing."

Kisame couldn't help but giggle at their little argument.

**|-oOo-|**

Under such darkness, Nagayoshi couldn't tell how far they had been walking. It seemed devastating and she almost developed a new (and probably the first) phobia if it weren't because of a candle light shining a few feet in front of them. The light told them that it was a right angle turn and there was a small stair before turning. Once they took the turn, they were greeted by more candles. Nagayoshi's new phobia was put to a stop.

The long tunnel continued for a good four hundred and thirty yards (as told by Kakuzu) before commencing a great number of stairs. Nagayoshi gaped at the stairs; they almost resembled the super steep stairs before a temple in Kumogakure. This one nearly resembled that one, only with wider steps and shorter heights. They decided not to rush on climbing up the stairs. Therefore, it took around fifteen minutes to climb them all.

Next, a moderate upward slope led their way. It was still a tunnel, but it was no more made of rock and minerals. Instead, this tunnel was made of a more sophisticated material which was iron and concrete. There were windows every few meters of the tunnel, enabling the newcomer to see where she was exactly.

As soon as they entered the concrete tunnel, they could hear simultaneous small beatings on the ceiling. Nagayoshi looked over the window and there, before her eyes, was a town with high absurd-shaped towers, ever showered by rain. That long dark tunnel, the staircase, and this concrete tunnel wound her up to a municipality, to her inexpectation. At which point she needed to ask, "Uh…where are we?"

Kakuzu who was walking a few feet in front of her turned his head around. "We are officially entering the Amegakure territory." he answered. "This is where our base is located."

"Amegakure? As in the village led by Hanzou the Salamander?" Nagayoshi posed. She quickly noticed that Kisame smirked. "What?"

"Hanzou the Salamander is no more, kid. It's Pein now." answered Kisame.

"Pein? The history lessons never told anything about Pein. How long has he been ruling the whole village?"

"It is true that the history books failed to know about Hanzou's retreat, but it's because the truth was remained hidden. The people of Ame are even forbidden on mentioning Hanzou's history and…his death."

"Huh? Hanzou's dead?! Like, how?"

"Nobody knows exactly." Itachi interjected. For once, he actually talked about something big. "But we know that Pein-sama was the one who killed him."

Nagayoshi caught the way Itachi called the new leader of Amegakure. He just referred him as 'Pein-sama', which means… "Wait; this 'Pein' you're talking about, is he…?"

"Right, he's our leader." Kakuzu cut her off. "So behave when I introduce you to him."

"You said you swore in front of him." Nagayoshi pointed out.

"_In front _of him; not _at him_."

Unlike the dark tunnel, the concrete tunnel (that was elevated seventeen stories from the ground on the beginning) went about one and a half kilometers. The tunnel kept going higher and higher in every each step, so the end of it was probably twenty four stories from the ground.

Nagayoshi once again peeked out the rain-showered window to see a tall tower ahead. There were circular shapes emerging outside, making the top of the tower looked a little more absurd than the lower and the middle part. On the circular shapes there were windows. Nagayoshi wondered again but to no avail, because she had no idea what was behind those windows.

She posed a question once again, "Does the people of Amegakure know about Akatsuki?"

"They do. In fact, it was the first village to use Akatsuki's service. It was of course because their 'God' and 'Angel' run Akatsuki in the first place. So only in this village we can go out in our cloaks freely." Kakuzu answered. "Oh, and about the so-called 'God' and 'Angel', it's their calling for Pein-sama and his partner. You'll know why soon enough."

Nagayoshi grimaced, "This Akatsuki thing is getting more peculiar every time I ask a thing about it."

"Yep; and since your position is just a subordinate, more things will be hidden from you." Kakuzu sneered.

"What? Now that's unfair!" she protested.

The four of them reached a door. It was unlike the one on the very front of the entrance. In fact, this one looked just like any ordinary door; made from a well-carved wood with a knob. Plus, it was unlocked!

Nagayoshi observed the door for a second. "No bleeding this time?"

"No bleeding; don't worry. This is just a normal door just as it seems." Kakuzu confirmed as Itachi turned the doorknob. They were immediately greeted by a man of two colors: black and white and a Venus Flytrap surrounding his head.

"Welcome back." he said. The black side's mouth was invisible due to the dark tint of the skin so no telling whether it was moving or not. "**How did you guys end up coming home together?**" he added, now the mouth of the white side didn't seem to be moving. Nagayoshi perked her ears; she just revered about hearing a different voice from the same person. The man looked down to her. All of a sudden, Nagayoshi felt as if she was a Roquefort cheese watched over by a mouse. "**You bring us a snack, Kakuzu?**"

"In your dreams, Zetsu. She's with me." Kakuzu replied snappily, pushing Nagayoshi behind him. Nagayoshi could distinctly hear Kakuzu's growl from the way he spoke. He pulled her arm, away from the man called Zetsu. Nagayoshi looked back at the bipolar; more questions and wonders raided her mind.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"That was Zetsu. He's, uh…there are actually two personalities inside that one body. You hear their voices, right?"

"Huh? So I wasn't dreaming after all!" Nagayoshi whistled.

"We'll get back to our rooms. So…see you later?" Kisame said before parting from the siblings with Itachi.

"Yeah, later." Kakuzu replied quickly. Kisame and Itachi then strode off to their respective rooms. Kakuzu nodded to his sister. "C'mon, before he—"

"Kakuzu! YO! Hey, ol' buddy!" a high tone of a man's voice zapped Kakuzu's ears. Again, Nagayoshi heard her brother distinctly growling. This time, it was even louder. Even his hands participated in displaying his growing anger. Nonetheless, he turned to meet his working partner: a man in his late thirties with raw sienna-colored hair and eyes with different shades (left is blue, right is lime green). He stood only two inches shorter than Kakuzu and his scraped Kumogakure headband clung slantwise on his forehead, one end covered his eyebrow. And just like any Kumogakure-born, he had a dark skin. His hair was moderately short, but it was heavily disordered and bristly due to lack of brushing and/or combing. He had a huge smile ever so available on his face and he constantly cackled. The man circled his arm good-naturedly around Kakuzu's neck; upon which Nagayoshi could spot a bad twitch from Kakuzu's eye.

"Duuuuuude! I missed you so much, man! It's been a really long time since we kick butt together, hasn't it?" the man yapped humorously, although Kakuzu's face visibly didn't support his blether. In every end of his sentence, he slipped "Hahaheehee" in an equivalent tone and length. "Hoy…say something, man. Helloooo~?" the man yodeled the said greeting. It was indisputable that Kakuzu was fuming.

"_Hello_, _Baka._" Kakuzu hissed.

"Naw…don't call me that, Kakuzu! Come on, what's my name~?" the man purred, poking Kakuzu's cheek.

Kakuzu snarled and he knew the 'Baka' could hear him clearly. Unfortunately, stupid does what stupid does. "Hello, _Ryouken_." Kakuzu snarled his name through gritted teeth. Ryouken chortled and clapped his hands unnecessarily.

"Hooray! Kakuzu-sama said my name!" Ryouken howled joyously. Don't forget the "Hahaheehee".

"Get off of my sight before I break another tooth again from you." Kakuzu growled, pushing the laughing man away from him. "I have business to do with Leader." Kakuzu turned away, pulling Nagayoshi harder.

"Hey! Is that the kid you were talking about?" Ryouken pointed at Nagayoshi. Kakuzu grunted and walked faster. Seeing that he was ignored, he shrugged and cackled a little more before going off to another direction.

The last time Nagayoshi saw Kakuzu this distressed was when he pulled him away from Kumo ANBUs. This was almost the same, except that it has less tension. Nagayoshi winced due to the tightening grip on her lower arm. She grunted and say, "Oniisan, not too hard on the arm, please!"

Kakuzu's eyes snapped to focus and his grip loosened dramatically, but his fingers remained intact. He slowed his pace down, making the course of following up easier. He massaged his eyebrows with his other hand, sighing profusely. With another hand, Nagayoshi clasped his tensed hand on her arm. Kakuzu looked down to his sister, "I'm sorry." he sighed again, "It's just…I can't trust those people."

"Why? That Ryouken guy looks pretty funny. Insane, but funny."

"You don't know what lies beneath, Nagayoshi. Zetsu may be a lesser threat, but that Baka is a real danger for you. That's why, mark my words: do not engage him alone. Am I understood?"

Nagayoshi nodded rapidly. Kakuzu never joked when he used that tone and since most of his concerns turned out to be true, Nagayoshi better obeyed before she was sorry. Then she added, "So he's the idiot you were talking about in the restaurant. Now I'm not surprised as on why you called him so."

**|-oOo-|**

"Pein, they're here." the blue-haired woman said. Across her, sitting snugly in his chair, was Pein, the leader of the whole organization and the village where it resided.

"Bring them in." he replied coolly. With those three little words, his partner obeyed, exiting his office to greet his addressees.

Not holding her hand anymore, Kakuzu and Nagayoshi arrived at Pein's front of the office. In front of the ebony wood door, the blue-haired woman whom was Pein's partner stood. Nagayoshi immediately was stunned by her looks. Her blue hair may be incongruous in human history, but if put together with her flawless visage, they made a woman that can only be described by one word: gorgeous. Her matching blue eye shadow accentuated her whole mature look. Her icy eyes greeted them with a different aura of seriousness. She nodded at Kakuzu, "He's been waiting for you."

"Right. Great…" Kakuzu grimaced beneath his mask. Konan opened the door for them, letting them enter before she followed suit and locked the door for the sake of privacy. "Behave." Kakuzu whispered quickly before they stepped in.

Finally, Nagayoshi met the face of the man so-called Pein. Initially, she expected a quite aged, powerful male figure, but instead she found sitting in a bossy manner a young man with vivid orange hair. He had six piercings on the nose bridge, some on both of his ears and two under his lower lip. Something that was more inimitable was his grey circular eyes. They were hypnotizing; the circles seemed to be endless and sending whoever stared straight at it into an unidentified dimension. She gulped whilst the Leader implanted his gaze upon her.

"Pein-sama," Kakuzu began politely, "I have returned from my long-term assignment."

Pein nodded, not bothering to answer with words. His eyes were still fixated on Nagayoshi even as he said, "So she's the one? Your 'sister'?"

Kakuzu nodded, "Yes, this is her." He nudged the back of Nagayoshi subtly, mutely telling her to present herself.

"Oh, uh…Nagayoshi, sir." the young kunoichi introduced herself awkwardly. Being unaccustomed to polite speeches, she was clueless on what words can be used in such speech. That and his constant staring made her concentration blurred and fluttered away. If he wasn't an important figure, she would ask him to stop staring at her already.

"Nagayoshi…" he repeated his name with his deep voice. The owner of the name shivered slightly; he voiced her name unlike as if she was calling a person's name. It was more like incanting a spell of an ancient language. Nagayoshi encouraged herself to stare back into his eyes only to found herself drowned in an ocean of vertigo and whirlpools of intense mandate.

* * *

**Whoops, here comes Pein and his world of orders! Cue Jaws theme song!**

**Ah, some of the members are so young. Kisame was barely as old as most of my cousins and Itachi was younger than me. Hidan, Deidara, and Tobi were not members yet. Tobi should be the first one to appear, since he was Zetsu's subordinate for possibly quite a long time. And let's not forget the fact that Kakuzu had other partners before Hidan. Ryouken was only the first one to be introduced.**

**More name meanings! Ryouken means (or is written as) 'hyena'. I quite like his personality; I even make his appearance look very much like a hyena. His constancy of cackling reminds me of The Joker. Since he's Kakuzu's partner, you sure know what will come upon him, don't you?**

_Next: After Pein, Nagayoshi gets to know more of Akatsuki. Including the two masters._


	13. Kakuzu's Room

**Chapter 12: Kakuzu's Room**

"Nagayoshi…" Pein's evil warlock-ish voice filled the room. Nagayoshi gulped in nervousness; this was a whole new situation for her. She waited for his upcoming words. She hoped he wouldn't take too long observing her unnerved expression. To her relief, Pein commenced, "Your brother told me that you graduated earlier than most of your classmates, true?"

Nagayoshi hastily nodded, "That is true, sir."

"Your escape went successfully, but our agents there say that they are training young ninjas of your age to specially hunt you down. You know what that means?" the leader continued. At the last question, Kakuzu bit his lower lip while Nagayoshi's beads of cold sweat rolled down her neck. She shook her head in response to Pein's question. The leader slowly shut his eyes, "That means you are putting Akatsuki at risk of disclosure. We're working surreptitiously now; exposing ourselves right now would put everything in jeopardy."

"Pein-sama, it was my fault—" Kakuzu tried to interject but Pein raised his hand to stop him.

"Silence, Kakuzu. I want to hear from her." Pein stared down at Nagayoshi with the same authoritative pressure again.

Nagayoshi sighed softly and answered, "I'm…sorry if things turn out like this. I thought—_we_ thought—that we had been keeping our identities in secret quite well."

"You didn't."

"Uh…yeah…unfortunately. But if that piece of information is true—that my ex-classmates are trained to hunt me down in the future—then I'll take the consequences." Nagayoshi scratched her arm awkwardly, eyes searching for distraction on the floor. "For now, I'll just…hope that they don't find me." Nagayoshi grimaced at saying those words from her mouth. Hoping; _now that sounds stupid…_

Pein smirked visibly, causing Kakuzu to blink. He leaned back on his chair, legs crossing, and a short and small chuckle escaped his pierced lip. "Hoping, huh? I'm pleased that you are willing to be responsible for your mistakes."

The atmosphere lightened. Pein seemed to bringing the whole conversation into a more casual level although still maintaining the formality. "How far is your ninja skill, Nagayoshi, if I may know?" he asked again. Nagayoshi wondered where the evil warlock aura could have gone.

With the lighter atmosphere, Nagayoshi was free to use her childish expression again. "Well, I've mastered all the basics, obviously. I can use one jutsu—_Raihou,_ that is—and I've developed some talents of my own."

"Talents? And they are?"

"First of all, I can make electricity through my lightning chakra and actually electrocute someone to death by simply touching their skin or hair. Second, I can sense people's existence by feeling the electromagnetic field surrounding them. For example, I can tell there are two people walking toward this room right now. However…I can't sense anything or anyone more than five hundred meters radius. Even at four hundred my readings are small." Nagayoshi explained.

Pein nodded; somehow, to her, he didn't look so amused, but Nagayoshi couldn't be sure, especially that Pein was already hard to read in the first place, even by Kakuzu himself. At last, Pein's eyes were not fixated at her anymore. Mutely, she sighed in relief. She didn't feel like a trapped mackerel anymore.

From Nagayoshi, Pein's eyes flew to her brother. "You trained her well, Kakuzu."

Kakuzu nodded, "Thank you."

Pein's eyes flew to Nagayoshi again, but this time, he didn't give out any uncomfortable tension. This time, he was just merely looking. "A lightning specialist, eh? Any idea about her clan or origin?"

Kakuzu shook his head, "No. She even told me herself that she was orphaned ever since infancy." Kakuzu looked to his sister, who nodded to Pein to confirm his statement. "What is it? Is it going to be a problem?"

"I don't think so. Should there be a problem, we'll see until it comes and then consider our move." Everything was tranquil for a moment or two before Pein took out a file from his drawer. He put the file on the table, indirectly saying that that wasn't an assignment for Kakuzu and Nagayoshi. "Keep going with her training. Oh, and I suggest that she better start working on her own original jutsu. Being a lightning natural, I'm pretty sure she can get it done quickly."

"Sure. I'm optimist that she'll start working that out."

"Before that, you are free from travelling duties for two weeks. Looks like your partner will wait for another few days. He's been bored since working with Erai doesn't go smoothly with him."

Kakuzu held down a triumphant sneer and shrugged, "Well, Erai is mute after all. No wonder they don't get along. You just pair him with his total opposite."

"He needs it. Konan, wait for my next guests, please. Kakuzu, Nagayoshi, you are dismissed."

Kakuzu and Nagayoshi nodded and following Konan's lead, they exited Pein's office. Once the door of the office was closed, Nagayoshi could finally sigh in relief. Finally those eyes were not clinging over her head anymore. Everything felt feather-light all of a sudden. As the siblings reached the middle of the tunnel that connected Pein's office and the tower where the rooms were, Kakuzu and Nagayoshi bumped onto a duo. One of them was tall with long black hair and has ridiculously pale skin. The other one was much shorter, hunchbacked and the lower part of his face was covered with a cloth. The taller one blinked when he met Kakuzu's face.

"Well, well…look whose back! It's good to see you mingling in the base again, Kakuzu." the pale man said with a voice that was pure evil and snakelike.

Kakuzu didn't respond but instead changing the subject entirely. "You and Sasori are going somewhere, Orochimaru?"

"Pein-sama has a job for both of us. We are about to know." the shorter, Sasori, answered although he knew Kakuzu initially asked Orochimaru, not him.

Orochimaru's snakelike eyes gazed down to the smaller and younger figure standing right next to Kakuzu. Nagayoshi noticed a hidden glint in his eyes and half-scowled. She immediately disliked this Orochimaru person. There was something in him that seemed trying to lure her to his bear trap. "Who is that young girl, Kakuzu?" he asked. Beside him, Sasori blinked and skewed an eyebrow up.

Kakuzu looked quickly to Nagayoshi, feeling wary all over again. "Nagayoshi." he answered quickly. "Don't you have somewhere to be, Orochimaru? I'm pretty sure Pein-sama is waiting for you."

Sasori walked first. He passed Nagayoshi and shot her a quick, sharp and observing glance. "It is a girl." he muttered. "Hurry up, Orochimaru! I'm not going to wait for you."

Orochimaru chortled huskily and followed his partner. "That Sasori…he's impatient as ever." He then glanced back at Kakuzu, "Until we meet again, Kakuzu. Take care of the girl." He fixed his eyes to the front, leaving a confused Nagayoshi and a slightly less wary Kakuzu.

"Come." Kakuzu said, walking back to the tower again. "Let's just drop our things in my room first." He sighed, "Somehow, I prefer staying outside or in a crummy hotel than in this place."

Nagayoshi chuckled wryly. She then rotated her head to the back, seeing the shrinking figures of Sasori and Orochimaru. "Who are they, Oniisan?" Nagayoshi asked.

"Them? They are the Master Duo—that's how Kisame and Ryouken call them. Orochimaru is a psychopath that experiments with people. He's also an expert in forbidden jutsus. And Sasori…don't get tricked with his outer appearance. He looked much different in reality; he's not that old. He's only a couple of years older than Kisame. Uh, Sasori uses puppets made from dead bodies. Aside from that, he's a poison expert. Most of his poisons have no cure yet."

"Wow, they sound cool. But I don't like that Orochimaru guy."

Kakuzu perked an eyebrow. "Why? Because he looked like a snake?"

"Not really. I just…don't like being around him." Nagayoshi scratched her chin, thinking of a better way to explain her discomfort around the long-haired maestro of dark jutsus.

She decided to ditch the thought when they arrived at the hall of rooms. Nagayoshi remembered the door from the long concrete tunnel that connected to a long cave. The guy named Zetsu was nowhere to be found and so was the insane partner of Kakuzu. Nagayoshi took her time to observe every door to every room. There were small stairs leading before the door. The stairs also went to two different directions. One room went upstairs, and then its neighbor went downstairs, then upstairs, then downstairs and so on. On the west side of the tower, there was a long elevating corridor heading outside. Nagayoshi was yet to know where it head to.

Kakuzu called her; he was already standing before the downward stairs to his room on the southwest side of the tower. Nagayoshi rushed to his side and followed him climbing down the short stairs. Kakuzu rummaged his wallet and pulled a slim key from inside it. A big sweat adorned Nagayoshi's short hair subsequently.

"You keep your key in your wallet?" she asked in disbelief.

"It's the only place I can trust." Kakuzu answered casually, inserting the key into the keyhole and turning it unlocked. "I can't possibly leave it to that Baka, now can I?"

Upon contemplating, Nagayoshi nodded. "You're right. You'd rather die after that."

The door gaped, showing off its insides to its owner and the newcomer. Compared to the hotel rooms, Kakuzu's room was bigger by a few inches. It was neatly organized; there was a working table complete with a wheeled spinning chair, a shelf full of books and folders, a document drawer, a wardrobe, and a queen-sized bed. Being a simplistic type of person he was, Kakuzu had no pictures or ornaments attached to the wall.

Nagayoshi had her mouth hung open for a few minutes since she entered the room. It was just exquisite. She never expected that Akatsuki architecture could be quite decent, especially that the rooms were inhabited by a bunch of S-ranked criminals. She dropped her stuff beside the bed's foot and sat on the mattress. It was still springy due to years of abandonment. Just as she was about to get a good, clear picture of living in Akatsuki…

"Shit, I forgot that there's only one bed." Kakuzu mumbled. However, the mumbling was audible enough to the young kunoichi's ears which pricked. Following afterward, Nagayoshi shot Kakuzu a 'what-the-hell-is-that-supposed-to-mean' gawping, causing the older ninja to look away and scratched his lower cheek uncomfortably. Knowing Kakuzu, he hated being stared like that for too long, so he snapped, "Well, it's not my fault! I've left this place for what…five or six years!"

Nagayoshi twitched, "You got your point, but…" she turned around, looking at the queen-sized bed, and shot to Kakuzu again. However, she was unable to finish her upcoming sentence. Heck, looks like she got a one-time short-term amnesia.

"I guess we have no choice. It's either we sleep together or you can sleep on the floor." Kakuzu concluded.

"Why do _I_ have to sleep on the floor?" Nagayoshi protested, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Kakuzu imitated her gesture and a smug look plastered his already unmasked face.

"Where should I begin…one: this room is mine ever since the very first time this tower was built. Second: I am the member of Akatsuki. Third: you are just a subordinate." It ended with a smirk; a smirk that Nagayoshi can never counterattacked no matter how hard she tried. Why? Because it was inevitably true and irrevocable.

Nagayoshi bit her lip in desperation and grunted in an unladylike manner. "Oh, fine…whatever floats your boat, Oniisan. I don't want to get sick anyway."

"What is wrong with you? I found it normal for siblings to sleep together. My little sister slept with me all the time—even as she reached teenage." Kakuzu said, sitting beside Nagayoshi.

She raised an eyebrow upon hearing a never-before-heard fact before. "Your sister? I'm your little sister."

Snapping his eyes to focus on realizing on what he had said earlier, Kakuzu hunched his back and tried to divert his gaze to his working table. He knew Nagayoshi tried to find his eyes and while she did so, he continued, "Uh…way back before you were born, I used to have a little sister too. She's a sweet girl and like you, she has quite of an ambition. But…" Kakuzu trailed off. He sighed aloud, showing Nagayoshi how unpleasant it was to talk about it. "But…the last time I held her, she was about your age—maybe older." Kakuzu massaged his nose bridge; his breathing began to take sharp inhalations. "She was—"

"Oniisan, stop." Nagayoshi cut him off. "That's enough. You don't have to tell me everything." She placed a hand over his warmly. Somewhat automatically, Kakuzu's fingers locked in. "Sorry if I can't be like your late sister."

Kakuzu turned back; Nagayoshi could sense warmth from the way his eyes looked down at her. "Don't sweat about it. You never can replace her. You can only become yourself. You have a quality she doesn't have though."

Nagayoshi beamed, "Really? What is that?"

Kakuzu ran his other hand on her head; the little girl grinned and giggled, "You're more fun to tease."

The grin disappeared into a scowl and Kakuzu almost snorted, "That's my quality?" she asked. In response, Kakuzu ruffled her hair more before he stood, releasing her hand, and stored his Akatsuki cloak in the wardrobe. While he did so, Nagayoshi ventured around the room and her eyes immediately were stolen by the bookshelf. On the lower level of the shelf, Nagayoshi found thick books and folders of documents. The higher the level, the thinner the books became. Her eyes arrived on a particularly small book—pocket-sized—and the title cleaved to an entirely different theme to the other books available in the same shelf. She stretched her hand toward the book and managed to pull it out from the shelf.

"What's this? I don't know you like this kind of book, Oniisan." Nagayoshi said after she caught a glimpse of the title.

"What kind of book?" Kakuzu asked.

"This. _The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja…_sounds interesting."

"I didn't buy that book. My agent gave it to me. I read it and it sucked." Kakuzu commented coldly. "The author, though, became quite popular after writing a…prejudicial book series. Don't ask about it." Kakuzu added.

"I don't care what you say; I'm gonna read it." Nagayoshi hopped onto the bed, dominating the right side of it and started flipping the first page of the book.

**|-oOo-|**

The first morning in Akatsuki for Nagayoshi wasn't the best morning. Yes, she had a good sleep; no more nightmares like she used to have. Only…for the first time in her life did she found herself squished under one-hundred-and-eighty-three pounds of weight.She frowned crosslyand an indignant grunt escaped her vocal chords.

She tried to heave the weight off of her but to no avail. She huffed after a few minutes of struggle, regaining her strength. Since pushing off didn't work, she figured a new method: moving away. Nagayoshi grabbed the edge of the bed, trying to pull herself off from the mass of meat, muscle and skin. She began with a little success, so she tried harder.

"Whoa!" she screeched. Followed by a _BUMP!_

A groan emanated. "What the hell was that?" Kakuzu asked.

Cue awkward.

* * *

**Well, that was short. I intend to put the breakfast after that one, but I don't think so. There's a little…problem right on this wake-up section of the story. I looked up in LeafNinja and went to see Kakuzu's biography to know how much his weight is. The website says he's 63.2 kg (I think 130 something pounds, but I forgot). I CANNOT believe it. He's exactly as heavy as I am but then he's 185 cm (6'1"). I mean…shouldn't there be weight from the muscles and multiple hearts too? Therefore, I added extra 20 kilos to his weight, just to make it more reasonable—well, to my standards.**

**I don't mean to be a racist or something (I'm against that, hel-lo!) but are you Japanese people really THAT light? I'm only 5'2" but my weight is exactly the same as this masked ninja. And I'm not obese, to tell you the truth. Wow…the wonders of cultural difference!**


	14. Fight Someone Your Own Size

**Chapter 13: Fight Someone Your Own Size**

"Like I said: I'm _sorry!_" Kakuzu groaned exasperatedly.

His begging-for-mercy voice reached the kitchen and dining area, where a few people had opened their eyes and enjoyed a cup of morning drink. Kisame and Itachi were two of the morning people (in fact, they were the only people since Orochimaru and Sasori were away as of yesterday) and they blinked perplexedly, marveling on what might have caused such commotion early in the morning. Their answers stumbled in front of the doorway, one with a sour face and a dash of crankiness, the other one was apologetic and frustrated.

"You said that for a thousand times and it's giving me a new wave of headache." Nagayoshi bleated and took a seat across Kisame whose curiosity level kept boosting and boosting. "I'm gonna need my coffee."

Kakuzu huffed gruffly, "Fine." Kakuzu went off to the counter and made himself a juice and his sister a cup of coffee.

Meanwhile, with his curiosity level scraping out of his skin, Kisame asked to Nagayoshi, "What was happening between you two?"

"Ugh…I just found out that my brother over there rolls around in his sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night because his hands suddenly slapped me smack dab on my forehead. Then, this morning, I had to stumble down the bed because he had his whole weight on top of my body. It never happened before maybe because we always have separate beds in the hotel and, in the woods, he tends to sleep sitting against a tree." Nagayoshi explained, resting her head on the table.

Kisame had restrained his laughter from booming too loud ever since Nagayoshi had begun explaining. He started to like this brother-sister combo because of their rare lifestyle and because they always came up with funny arguments. This current one was probably the funniest so far. Kakuzu in the kitchen was blushing due to his sister telling about his sleeping habits.

"And Oniisan snores when he's sleeping in sitting position. I don't know why, but he doesn't snore when he's sleeping on bed." Nagayoshi added.

That was it; Kisame must let all the hysteria out of his stomach, otherwise he would explode. Kakuzu, on the other hand, slammed the hot water kettle fiercely against the top of the counter. In his mind, the masked ninja (ironically, he didn't wear his mask presently) was counting to ten before he lose control. If only counting didn't remind him of money, the traditional anti-anger method would have failed miserably already.

Bitterly, he placed Nagayoshi's cup of coffee with a _thump_. He sat down and drank his orange juice silently, his eyes staring other corners of the room or anywhere as long as he didn't need to glimpse at his sister. This time, Nagayoshi rose to add more sugar and milk into her coffee. While Kisame showed the girl where things were put, Itachi watched over the grouchy Kakuzu. Moving his gaze back to his breakfast, Itachi spoke: "Deal with it. Younger siblings can be quite infuriating." He glanced a moment to Nagayoshi before returning. "Especially that your sister acts too much like a mischievous, daily-sugar-induced country boy."

Kakuzu scoffed, carefully glancing to Itachi, "She even looks too much like a boy. Not until her womanly features grow, people _will_ mistake her as a boy." He sighed, "You have a younger sibling too, Itachi?"

"A brother." he answered somberly. "He holds the key to my demise."

"Geez, you're gonna have one angsty life." he commented. Then he added, "So you are not alone, after all."

"I will." Itachi answered, this time more hushed than the previous answers. "Eventually."

The fork and knife landed safely and quietly on the plate at the same time as Itachi gave a period to the conversation. He stood from his chair and headed downstairs, back to his room. Kisame and Nagayoshi noticed his departure and Kisame called, "Itachi-san, you're going back already?"

Itachi nodded, and that was all Kisame needed.

"Alright. I'll see you later." Kisame waved joyously to his partner and as soon as he was out of his sight, he lowered his arm down. He turned back to Nagayoshi, "So…where were we?"

"The frying pans." Nagayoshi reminded. At which point, back on the table, glass half-empty, Kakuzu rolled his eyes. He stormed towards the newly formed friendship and broke between the two of them. His abrupt act caused protest and questions…or both combined into an interrogative exclamation. "You could at least give us a sign!" Nagayoshi bellowed.

"Coming through." Kakuzu said blandly. Behind him, he knew Nagayoshi was fuming through her ears. Out of the cupboard, he pulled out a big frying pan. He stood, and when he turned, his walkway was blockaded by none other than his sister. To save breath from asking a short yet uncertainly will be responded question, Kakuzu simply raised an eyebrow.

"Care to explain to me what that was for?" Nagayoshi asked heatedly, although Kakuzu knew it wasn't a really furious questioning.

"I'll use it in my sleep in hopes that your face will end up flat tomorrow morning." Kakuzu answered half-heartedly, tapping the rounded end of the pan on his opened palm. Somewhere beside him, Kisame was on dilemma whether to call that a joke or an insult to the young kunoichi.

"No, not the frying pan, ya moron! The pushing in! The rampage—what the hell was that about?" Nagayoshi complained, her arms whooshing about in the air.

Kakuzu made a mocking-thinking face and crossed his arms calmly, unfazed by his sister's objections as if they were written on a crummy, crippled piece of paper, ready to be disposed at any time given. "I don't know why exactly. Oh, maybe a little revenge?" He pushed Nagayoshi aside and settled the frying pan on the stove, igniting the fire on so that he could cook his breakfast.

Kisame sighed, scratching the back of his head awkwardly when Nagayoshi grumbled, "If only I didn't owe my life to him, I swear to God, his head will be on that hot sizzling frying pan!"

"Hey, uh, okay…um…say, what if, uh, you and I have a little match today?" Kisame offered, in hopes that it would distract Nagayoshi from her anger to Kakuzu. To his relief, it worked like magic. "I figure, since you're a subordinate in such young age, you must be pretty strong. Well, I want to test you out. You know, to see how far you can stand against my…_prowess_."

Nagayoshi's eyes beamed and she grinned, "That sounds like a plan! Alright, I'll take your challenge! Well, don't go easy on me!"

Kisame chuckled, glad his last minute plan worked. "Don't worry. 'Go easy' is never on my list—well, unless you lose." He grinned, as big as Nagayoshi's.

"Ha! I won't lose so easily!" Nagayoshi laughed ecstatically, overjoyed with the upcoming plan. She never sparred for months, not since she escaped Kumogakure. She may have fought against numerous bounties, but that wasn't enough. She was about to fight another Akatsuki other than her brother. That has the same amount of honor as fighting against one of the five Kages, since these Akatsuki may be as strong as them.

She turned to Kakuzu who was frying eggs to make two sunny-side-ups for his own. Before she got the chance to say what she was about to say, the blue haired from yesterday entered. Nagayoshi decided to postpone her words.

"'Morning, Lady Konan." Kisame greeted. "Breakfast?"

"Already had. Early in the morning." she answered indifferently.

"Okay. I hope you had a big one."

"Early in the morning? This _IS_ early in the morning." Nagayoshi whispered to Kisame.

"For her, early means before the sun rises. Which means that's around three or four."

"Damn…"

"Kakuzu," she called for the oldest ninja around, "Pein has works for you to get done by the end of the month. They're stacked on your table."

"Sure. I'll start working after this." Kakuzu replied. With that, Konan left. Her appearance was replaced by the appearance of a short boy with a sepia-colored hair. He glanced at Konan's departure with eyes wide of questions then to Kisame. His Persian blue eyes landed upon a new face. He blinked and Nagayoshi blinked as well and raised an eyebrow towards the boy whose height was supposedly only two centimeters taller than hers (146 cm).

Kisame snapped his fingers and rushed to the short boy and pushed him forcefully toward Nagayoshi. "Ah, Erai, I just remember that you haven't met her yet. This is Nagayoshi, Kakuzu's subordinate who also holds the status as his non-biologic sister. They just got back yesterday. Oh, and Nagayoshi, this is Erai. Although he's petit and awfully baby-faced—" Erai visibly blushed at his statement, especially on the mentioning of 'baby-face' "—he's abandoned the title 'child' years ago. You see, he's twenty-three!"

Erai smiled hesitantly and shyly gave the frazzled Nagayoshi a two-fingered salute. He rolled his eyes when Kisame continued, "Oh, and uh…Erai is mute—no offence, buddy—so you might find his hand signs a little difficult at first." He roughly patted Erai on the shoulders, causing him to wince due to his heavy hands. "But you'll get used to it. Hey, I think you two will make good friends, considering that you two are 'kid-sized'. Ha-ha!"

Erai frowned to Kisame's embarrassing description of him. He walked towards the rows of cupboards to find a plate and started to find something to eat. When he found what he liked, he sat, joined by Kakuzu. He waved at the older ninja.

"I heard you're assigned with my partner while I was gone. How was it working with him?" Kakuzu asked.

Erai rolled his eyes and began a series of hand signals. Just like Kisame had said, Nagayoshi had a hard time comprehending his very own language. If it weren't because of his facial expression, she might be completely clueless. Kakuzu, on the other hand, nodded to show Erai that he understood.

When he finished telling his opinions of working with Ryouken, Kakuzu chuckled rather deviously. "He deserved it. I mean, he's an endless and tireless audio speaker and you're soundproof. That just won't get along. Did he ever, with much desperation, told you to talk and you 'happily' granted his wish?"

Erai nodded and gave a smile.

Kakuzu chortled, "Ha, I wanna see his face when you knocked him down."

Upon which, Nagayoshi spotted a little error in the unilateral conversation. She felt she had to interfere. "Whoa! Whoa! Sorry for interrupting you guys, but I thought Erai is mute. Then how can he talk to Ryouken when he can't?"

Kakuzu glanced back to the young Akatsuki, somewhat asking for permission. Erai nodded, allowing Kakuzu to speak to his sister about whatever it was they were hiding. Then Kakuzu began, "You see, Erai isn't really mute. He just can't speak."

"Okay. That explains a _lot_." Nagayoshi replied sarcastically.

"By can't, I mean he must not speak by any means possible. Unless controlled and altered into a sound jutsu, he should hold his voice down or else…" Kakuzu paused on purpose, building suspense in Nagayoshi's expectation. Nagayoshi scowled, begging for him to continue. "Or else he's going to level this tower down. That's serious. Luckily it never happened before."

Nagayoshi briskly took a seat, holding an apple in her hand for her breakfast before she added anything else. She whistled in amazement. Erai made a hesitant laughing expression minus the laugh; he even scratched the back of his head to enhance his emotional display. "So is that why you're in Akatsuki in the first place?"

Erai nodded and Kakuzu added, "The first time he joined, he was still twelve years old. Back in his village—that is Hoshigakure—he was considered a national threat because of his uncontrolled power and he did destroy that village once. That was why he was exiled until we found him. He became my previous, previous partner's subordinate who also mastered sound jutsu."

"But why is it so uncontrollable? Sorry, Erai, for keep asking." Nagayoshi grimaced, but Erai just smiled and waved his hand casually.

"You may not be able to see it from out here, but right here," —Kakuzu pointed at Erai's throat— "there happened to be a chakra blockage. It's an unidentified disease; probably the first to be discovered. The chakra blockage occurred right on his vocal chords, therefore causing a blast of energy when the chords are used. Even if it just a closed-mouth hum, the energy would still get released."

"Oh, now I get it. So it was a disease. Hey, Erai, you wanna see me and Kisame having a little match later today? I promise it's going to be fun to see!"

Erai nodded in agreement to see what Nagayoshi offered. Nagayoshi cheered. Meanwhile, Kakuzu scoffed, "Geez, I hope I can see your butt get kicked."

"Oh yeah? It's going to be _your_ butt kicked by me as soon as I got back!"

"I'd like to see you try."

**|-oOo-|**

Out of the grotto from their secret entrance, Nagayoshi and Kisame immediately settled their position a few tens feet from the entrance. Itachi and Erai exited after them, sitting snugly on a bulge that was available somewhere above the grotto entrance. Soon after the two male Akatsuki sat, another came, emerging from the rocks only to the lower torso. From dirty brown and a little bronze, the pale white tint and the pitch black tint became distinct.

"What's the occasion? **Kisame's gonna kill the kid?**" Each side of Zetsu asked. Erai mutely sighed, letting only his breath out; even to do such simple task he must remained soundless. Even that very slight breath caused small rocks to fall down. He shook his head, correcting Zetsu's guest.

"It's just to kill some time. They're not going to play around, though, if that should bring back your interest." Itachi said, fixing his eyes upon his partner and Kakuzu's sister as he said so.

"**Kill or no kill** we're still going to watch."

With much confidence, Kisame and Nagayoshi stood face-to-face. Nagayoshi rummaged her weapon pocket, pulling a pair of kunai out. She braced them tightly in front of her. Kisame held the handle of the long, man-sized object wrapped in bandages and pulled it out of its strap. It seemed to be a sword. The only thing that Nagayoshi has yet to know was why it had to be wrapped in bandages.

She smirked smugly akin to Kisame's razor-sharp smile. They locked their eyes on each other, watching on every small movement their opposites made. Their adrenalines began to play their war music, channeling them through the veins and into their ears and encouraging their arms, hands and fingers to start whisking. Fingers tightening around their weapons, and Itachi gave them the signal to commence their battle. Spectators opened their eyes.

The chakra coated feet pushed against the water's surface, in return letting Kisame to dash at Nagayoshi. The kunoichi's reflex was jumping backwards. Her visions below her were blocked by the giant burst of water. While in the air, Nagayoshi was incredulous of Kisame's raw power. She couldn't imagine how much damage he could bring should his sword hit a giant rock—say as big as the fake entrance. While her mind was distracted by awe, Kisame's blue figure rocketed at her from the point he stood. He roared and swung his sword ferociously. Nagayoshi blocked the attack using her two kunais. She gritted her teeth; Kisame's attack was much stronger than Kakuzu's.

Her electromagnetic sensors sensed movement under those bandages and quickly pushed herself away from the sword, right before dark blue spikes struck out. Kisame didn't stop there; he swung his giant sword again, somewhat giving a boost to his mid-air flight and swing it again at Nagayoshi. She was compelled to do the same thing again, but this time the force was stronger and she rocketed to the cliff opposite to the cavern. She grunted due to the impact against rocks on her back.

Kisame landed on the water safely. He lifted his sword at the same level as his eyes and smashed the end to the cliff, causing the rocks and earth to crumble and fall down. Nagayoshi fell with the crumbling rhythm, but she didn't let herself fall too far. She kicked the big chunks of rock downwards, to where Kisame was standing. The shark ninja noticed the small meteorites and evaded fairly easily from them. Nagayoshi knew it was nothing, so she purposely kicked a bigger chunk of rock—a boulder, to be precise. The shark ninja was trapped and he couldn't evade as easily as from the other rocks.

He tightened his grip around the handle of his sword. Vehemently, he swerved his sword at the rock, effectively dividing it into two equal halves. He expected a smashing attack from the kunoichi but he found no girl after the crack. Nagayoshi was still up on the cliff, staring at him intently. His razor-sharp grin returned to his face.

Nagayoshi was not in mood to return his grin and proceeded in dashing toward him in high speed. She left a gigantic cloud of dust behind her as she ran and when her feet touched the water, small yet high tsunamis soared up. Not letting amazement distract him, Kisame smashed his sword downward in a hammer-blowing manner. Nagayoshi dodged to the side, letting the sword dispersed the body of water instead. She hopped and ran along the sword; her speed was too fast for the sword's self-defense mechanism to catch up to. It was her chance; she raised a fist, slowed down one or two knots, and pumped it straight at Kisame's face.

Kisame, too, was fast. Before her smaller hands could do damage to his face, he caught her wrist. At which point, he saw a glimpse of a tiny mischievous smirk. He pondered upon it before a surge of low voltage numbed his hand that caught Nagayoshi's hand. He shouted and in reflex released her wrist. Up on the bulge of rock, Erai bent down briskly, puzzled as what may caused Kisame's pained exclamation. Itachi bent down a little; the fight was not going to end as fast as he thought it would be.

With the same hand, Nagayoshi attempted to continue her postponed punch. With no more waiting, she thrust it at him. And, _bam!_ Nagayoshi was flying across the air until the red Shinto gate that stood before the fake cave entrance broke her fling. The collision caused a deep circular of fractures on the feet of the Shinto gate. Using his other hand, Kisame managed to yank Nagayoshi before her fist touched him. He didn't really care if he had just thrown the girl thirty meters away from him. Kisame closed and open his numbed hand; he winced when it gave a tickly disturbing sensation.

"That kid, Nagayoshi, sure has some tricks in her sleeve. **I wonder what she has next.** But it was a pretty nasty throw Kisame did earlier. **Bah, she was trained under Kakuzu. That little coin toss was nothing.**" Zetsu commented, not sharing their little debate with Itachi or Erai.

The last throw was harder than the one she received earlier in the fight, despite that she landed on wood instead of rock and earth. The pain on her back deactivated her muscles temporarily as well reopening the previous one from the earlier. Through squinted eyes, she watched Kisame's next move. The shark ninja stored his sword back on its strap and made quick series of hand seals. He slammed his hand opened on the water surface. He sneered and yelled, "_Suiton: Kyofuu No Kyodaina Ago!_"

The water rippled and a thick jet of water zapped underwater, slowly surfacing. A shark's fin began to emerge and the whole body of the terror of the ocean made of water soared out. The size was beyond any other sharks. If any, its size was equivalent to a young humpback whale. Its dreadful jaws opened and Nagayoshi was aimed to land right into its throat. The young kunoichi was too absorbed by its terrorizing size and its graceful jump; her eyes bulged in disbelief.

Kisame smirked when his jutsu advanced to his opponent rapidly. He was about to shout triumphantly as soon as his jutsu knocked down Nagayoshi. When that time drew nearer, the shark's head exploded and a thick ray of condensed lightning erupted through it. If possible, Kisame's eyes might be growing in wideness by now. The explosion of the water shark was so immense that it sprayed to everywhere in a few meters in diameter. It showered both Kisame and Nagayoshi whose right hand's palm was glowing. There on her adolescent face, plastered a smug smirk. A smirk that said in a deriding manner, "Take that, goddammit!"

The glow ceased and Nagayoshi rose to her feet. She rotated her shoulders, causing a few crackles on her bones. She sighed, "That was a damn nasty throw, y'know that?" She flexed her arms and that smirk was still on her face. She noticed how Kisame's face had gone tense. "Open your eyes, Kisame. You might don't want to miss this."

Even without being told, Kisame had his eyes opened. He kept an eye on her keenly, watching over her upcoming move. He would, if it weren't so god damn fast. One second she was there, the next two milliseconds she was behind him already. He heard shurikens zipping behind him and blocked it with his sword. He heard more and they always came from behind him wherever he turned to. Then he smelled her, to his left and she threw another set of weapons. Two pairs of kunai and paper bombs were attached to them, igniting as they fly towards him.

"Shit!" Kisame hissed and with precise hurry, he made hand seals. "_Suijinheki!_" Tall walls of water surrounded him, rescuing him from explosion and washing away sharp objects with its nippy drift. As he was about to sighing in relief, a superbly bright ray of light ignited somewhere in front of him—on the other side of the water wall. Before he knew what was about to get him, he was blasted by a collection of bound lightning bolts right on his chest. He shouted and tossed about on the water surface. He managed to regain his balance but after a lot of effort. He stopped tossing about, standing on all fours. He stood carefully; his head still swinging due to the multiple crash landings. He felt like there was a shadow loomed over him and he was right, after all.

Nagayoshi had already commenced a flying punch. It narrowly missed his jaw. Nagayoshi didn't stop there; she shot kicks and other punches. With her movements too fast, he had no time to grab his sword. Thence, a close hand-to-hand combat occurred. They kicked; they dodged; they punched; they blocked; they duck down and kept trying to advance.

Everybody, including the two fighters, could immediately see the huge difference in each fighting style. Nagayoshi's hits were quick and deadly precise like a cobra's snap. Kisame's blows were fast and more mass destructive like a Brontosaurus' swing of the tail. It can be compared with a tiger fighting off snakes or bees.

Kisame back-roundhouse Nagayoshi; the girl ducked. With Nagayoshi on the low level, Kisame used this chance to grab his sword and slammed it directly at Nagayoshi. Upon reflex, Nagayoshi could only protect her head with her arms. Her bones felt like shattering when she received the severe blow. With her skin, she could feel the texture of the sword: bumpy and seemed to be rough, unlike an ordinary sword.

"This isn't an ordinary sword." Kisame said, as if reading her thoughts. "This is Samehada, the sword that shreds!" Kisame pulled Samehada, sawing Nagayoshi's skin and flesh as he did so. "I hope Kakuzu doesn't mind." he sneered while Samehada still ate her skin.

Nagayoshi screamed agonizingly and with the scream, her body disintegrated into small streams of electricity which then zapped Kisame and his sword, Samehada, all together. Meanwhile, the real Nagayoshi appeared from behind him. With no time to waste, she immediately propelled a solid punch with a wham on Kisame's face. Upon receiving her high-powered punch, Kisame thawed into a big blob of water.

"What the—?" she growled. At which point, the partially un-bandaged Samehada was clinging dangerously closely to the joint where her shoulder and her neck meet. She stunned in her place. Carefully, she tried to lift both of her hands but the shark-skinned sword was pressed precariously against her skin.

"Don't even think about blasting me with lightning cannon again." Kisame threatened smoothly.

"Well, don't even think about shredding my skin again." Nagayoshi retorted, pressing a kunai against Kisame's spine.

The shark ninja glanced over his shoulder and chortled. He rotated the angle of Samehada a little so that the thin edge of it faced Nagayoshi's joint directly. "Well, I don't think so. You can't trick me, kid. I have the real you on the tip of my sword."

"Eh, too bad." the Nagayoshi behind Kisame stabbed the kunai, only to be tricked with another _mizubunshin_. She pouted then _whoosh!_ Samehada got her back. She disintegrated into streams of lightning bolts again. Only this time, instead of getting electrocuted, Samehada absorbed all the dispersed chakra.

The real Nagayoshi dashed and tried to propel another punch while Kisame was busy. Unfortunately, Kisame knew what was coming and dodged. Quickly restoring Samehada behind his back, he caught Nagayoshi's wrist over the long sleeve of her jacket and twisted it backwards, locking it. He did the same with the other hand. Without skin-to-skin touch, Nagayoshi couldn't electrocute him again. Another _mizubunshin _Kisame emerged from the water below her chin and threatened to make a hole on her lower jaw with a kunai, unless she resolved.

"I got you, little girl. Now say it."

Biting her lower lip, Nagayoshi muttered, "I give up. You win."

"Ha! Alright!" Kisame whooped and released both of her wrists, letting them caressed by their owner. "You're not bad at all! Seriously, I hardly get any of those fights these days."

Nagayoshi rubbed the back of her head, "I never had a fight like that before. You're really strong; even than my brother!"

"Physically, I am stronger than him. But when it comes to ninjutsu, Kakuzu is actually far better than me. Heck, I even think his taijutsu is better. You're lucky to have him as your fighting mentor."

Nagayoshi smiled, "Say that to him."

Kisame grinned, "Nah, he'll get too cocky if I do."

**|-oOo-|**

His attention span was almost completely spread to his work. While he was gone for a few years, the financial manager duty fell half to Konan and the other half to Sasori. Since they were not much of a money expert, their work was three times as slow as Kakuzu's. It hit Kakuzu thunderstruck upon seeing the last three months of expense. They were almost over budget and Kakuzu had a list of blames by the time he counted the money. He didn't mind if he had dozens of paper stacks on his table; he was not the type of person who got stressed with paper work. It was what was inside the papers that stressed him out.

At which point, one-tenth of his attention was directed to his door. A sigh; he knew that voice everywhere. He didn't bother greeting his sister; the last month's sheet was about to be closed. He could sense her eyes dawned upon him from afar. The impression of question surged over him mildly. He ignored it and continued working.

He heard her footsteps drawing closer to the bed, and then the spring of the mattress creaked due to the weight pressed on it. Then he remembered: she had a little match with Kisame today. He wondered how it went. So he asked, with his eyes were still fixated to his work, "So how was it? Your match?"

There was a groan before Nagayoshi answered, "Yeah, it was great. I never had a fight like that before."

"Who won?"

"Him. He locked my hands behind my back. His skin didn't touch me so I can't eject electricity to him."

"You got to hit him?"

"Oh yeah…with _Raihou_. Oh, and I used _Shippuujinrai Shunshin_ to run and assault him shurikens." There was a sigh; a contented sigh.

"Huh, that's better than I expected."

Nagayoshi chuckled and the mattress shuffled again. "Ugh…I'm going to rest for a while. Gah, my shoulder hurts…"

It was then that Kakuzu lifted his neck up, diverting his gaze from the paper he was currently writing numbers on. He moved his aching neck to the sides and rose from his seat and went outside. Nagayoshi who was half-asleep (or half-awake for that matter) thought he might be going to have a little snack. A couple of minutes later, she heard the door opened and closed again. Not expecting anything, she yelped when a freezing cold object brushed her cheek. She looked up and there was Kakuzu holding the ice pack she used so many times in the past to recover muscle aches.

Kakuzu pressed the ice pack to her face again. A torrent of déjà vu struck the both of them. Long ago, they did the similar thing. With the other hand, Kakuzu ruffled her head. Nagayoshi then witnessed a very infrequent facial expression from Kakuzu. It was so different that Nagayoshi might not recognize her brother anymore.

"I really wish I could see you fight out there."

* * *

**Ah…I LOVE this chapter. I had a two-day writer's block until I watched Naruto Shippuuden where Kakuzu and Hidan were fighting against Kakashi and team Asuma. I did this in the 31st of December; from 7 or 8 pm until 2 in the morning, 1st January. Hahaha! I totally enjoy this!**

**A couple of weeks ago, I counted all the Akatsuki members. It was then I realized there were only 9 members while the original number was 10. So that's where Erai came from. You could say he's Deidara's predecessor. I like creating him and his name. His ability is inspired by a Marvel superhero named Black Lightning. I only modified it a bit to suit the Narutoverse. By the way, Erai is written as 'porcupine'. Surprise, eh?**

**Translation:  
_Suiton: Kyofuu No Kyodaina Ago _= 'Water Style: Gigantic Jaws of Terror'  
_Shippuujinrai Shunshin_ = 'Lightning Speed Body Flicker'**


	15. Kakuzu's Real Partner

**Chapter 14: Kakuzu's 'Real' Partner**

It has been four months since Nagayoshi moved in to the Akatsuki's main hideout in Amegakure. Thus, for four months she tried to endure from getting squished under sleeping Kakuzu's weight. It wasn't an easy task (surprisingly) for her, but she got the hang of it lately, sleeping right through despite that she was aware that his weight was flattening her into a sheet of paper.

Other than that, she discovered Kakuzu's other face while in the hideout. Somewhat to her, he was more stoic and more serious amongst his Akatsuki comrades. That excluded when he was working with the organization's monthly expense. At that time of the month, he would be seldom heard talking and spoke only when he needed entertainment—without turning his head from his work, of course. It also amazed Nagayoshi how freakishly fast he could count a series of numbers in one time.

Like this one; sometime when Kakuzu was doing his monthly duties…

"Oniisan, what's 803 196 721 times 347 851 999?"

"279 393 584 990 095 279." answered Kakuzu ten milliseconds later; he continued writing. Meanwhile Nagayoshi was in doubt whether he really had counted them right or he just jumbled those numbers and say them out loud. Therefore, she asked again—this time she borrowed Sasori's calculator.

"Then what's sin35 plus cos12?" Nagayoshi glared at her brother (his back, actually). She observed every limb in his body, just in case he was cheating.

There was a two-second pause… "1.552. Rounded."

"Uh…round it up to…12 decimal digits!"

"1.551724037085."

"Damn it…"

So that was the reason why he was chosen to be the financial manager of Akatsuki, other than his passion for money. That still made Nagayoshi wonder, though. _How could he count so fast?_

Aside than Kakuzu's issues, Nagayoshi found that Akatsuki was not a bad place to live in. At first when Kakuzu mentioned that it was an organization full of S-rank criminals, Nagayoshi thought the people would be a menace, total evil, merciless, and dislike kids. She didn't really care about looks. Even the strongest and kindest person in the world was not certainly a charmer. Instead, she found them just like any other civilization. They talk, they joke, and they complain. Heck, even Erai looked way too innocent for a criminal!

It was already clear that Nagayoshi already had a deep friendship with Kisame. Ever since meeting in that hotel, they were inseparable—unless duty calls, it is. She also hung out a lot with the mute Akatsuki, Erai. Erai may not be able to speak out his mind while Nagayoshi talked a lot, but somehow they understood each other. Often, Kisame called them 'Chibi 1' and 'Chibi 2' due to their shortness. Thus, she, Erai and Kisame were a close group of friends, sometimes with Itachi pulled along too. Well, the Uchiha didn't really mind as long he didn't have to do anything stupid—like milk-drinking contest.

It was rather good news for Kakuzu since he always lacked trust in people. He would leave Nagayoshi with her friends while he worked. He was still wary that his sister would stumble upon his partner, the so-called Baka, or Orochimaru. He wasn't really wary if she was around Zetsu anymore, since he knew Zetsu would keep his word and pay heed to his warning. Sasori may not be as heavily suspected as Ryouken or Orochimaru, but Kakuzu had an eye on him as well. Pein and Konan had no interest in Nagayoshi at all, so that was a relief.

_Now let's get the quick review over and jump to…Pein's office!_

"This will be your mission." Pein lazily handed off the file of a man whose name was Ongyuu. Originally, he meant to give it to the lead of the duo he was assigning a mission to, but the maniacally joyous follower snatched it from his hand. Pein had to take a deep breath for his bad habit. "Our client wants him dead and he doesn't care what you want to do with it afterwards. Just show him that he's lifeless."

"Wait a second…. Nagayoshi, look for his face in the black market list." Kakuzu commanded, turning to his sister. Nagayoshi immediately pulled out a thick black book full of names, photos, data, and bounty prizes.

With agile hands, Nagayoshi flipped page after page until she came on the right page and the right person. "He's listed and untaken. His head worth 40 million."

"Perfect." Kakuzu nodded; Nagayoshi smiled. "We'll head off right away." With that said, Kakuzu, Ryouken, and Nagayoshi exited Pein's office. Meanwhile, the leader sighed out loud when the three of them was out of sight and hearing range.

"Is there a problem, Pein?" Konan asked. Only at this time where they were alone would Konan spoke casually. Pein himself didn't know why she had to be a little stiff with the other guys, even with Kakuzu whom she had known for nearly all her adult life.

"Nn…nothing. Just…things haven't change."

**|-oOo-|**

"Hahaha! This is so fun! Finally, working with my good friend Kakuzu after years and years of separation! How I miss this so much! And what's best, we have a new company!" Ryouken unstoppably blabbered out his uncontained and unstable display of joy. This was just the beginning, unfortunately, and Kakuzu had already lost his patience. He detached one of his hands and shot across to his partner's mouth. Ryouken screamed muffled protests and only stopped because of Kakuzu's carnivorous glare.

"Less talking, more walking." the masked ninja growled. He let go of his partner's mouth, an action he regretted immediately.

"Heh, say that to yourself! You're the one who always makes detours to catch side-job bounties. What I do is follow you around or carry the bodies when you insisted upon it."

"Shut up right now, or I'm seriously going to split your—"

"Hey, Oniisan! Ryouken! That's enough!" Nagayoshi interrupted, shoving her back against the rampaging Kakuzu in order to stop him. She knew by simply pushing him with her hands wouldn't work. At which point, she realized that being a subordinate was not just simply 'look and learn' but also 'don't let your role model becoming some wild mad dog'. "If we don't want to miss our target, we better start moving now!"

Kakuzu stopped struggling from Nagayoshi's reconciling push. He huffed grumpily, turning away gingerly. Nagayoshi sighed in relief but was distracted again by Ryouken. She just had to roll her eyes.

"Say, what is it again that you want to split?" Ryouken innocently (or stupidly) asked. Before Kakuzu gladly obliged, Nagayoshi nudged him with her elbow which was also her strongest hitter. "OW!"

"Stop it." Nagayoshi spat. She cared no more about senior-junior status—not when _he_ was her senior. "Now I understand why he calls you 'Baka' all the time."

"Geez! Even your non-biological sister is as bitter as you are!"

"I'm what?!"

Nonetheless, there were loads of arguments happening in this group. Not only between partners, but between senior and junior too. Since Nagayoshi was more talkative than her brother, hence she lashed tongues with Ryouken the most, sometimes to the point where Kakuzu had to stop them both. Because all arguments lead to another whole new argument (like the first argument was about soups, then suddenly it was about lamp posts), the siblings agreed to ditch the hyena man and walked faster. Of course, Ryouken had to protest and his wide mouth opened even wider than ever.

At last…

"Seriously, I thought you said that _I'm _a whiner." Nagayoshi whispered to her brother. They were still four meters or more in front of Ryouken. It had been three hours and that partner of Kakuzu hadn't stopped talking yet.

Kakuzu rolled his eyes. "I know. It astounds me that there are people more whiny and chatterbox than you."

"It hurts me somewhat, but I'll deal with it. Anyway, it actually gives me hope."

"Hope?" An eyebrow rose.

"Yeah, that I'm not the worst person living in this Earth. So, I'm pretty sure Oniisan isn't the worst as well."

Kakuzu looked down and back again at her. "What if I am the worst person on earth?"

"That's impossible!" Nagayoshi retorted immediately, causing a slight increase of eye size on Kakuzu.

"How is that?"

"If you are the worst person, I won't be here right now. You won't bother helping me who was starving to death or bother taking me to Kumogakure and adopting me into your sister. Like I said, you're not a bad person." Nagayoshi said lightheartedly, giving a smile as equal as her words. Kakuzu said nothing, but he flew his gaze elsewhere. He cleared his throat.

At the same time, Ryouken shouted, "Hey, a white dog!" and pointed somewhere to the group's right. All heads then turned to the pointed direction. In Kakuzu's case, he was hoping Ryouken didn't shout-and-point just to distract him and Nagayoshi from ignoring him.

Indeed, there was a white dog. It was quite a big dog (so big to the point that an adult may sit on its back) with some amount of wolf genetics mixed to its features. It stood still, staring back at the trio with its icy blue eyes, in its snowy white glory. His lower jaw creaked open and a loud, powerful bark reverberated from its vocal chords.

Responding to the bark, Kakuzu moved his feet towards the white canine. The canine didn't move; in fact, it stayed where it was, waiting for the masked ninja to approach it. Nagayoshi squinted as she watched her brother go toward the dog. Her mind raced on speculations: _What is Oniisan going to do with the dog? Oh, wait! He dislikes dogs! He's gonna kill the poor thing! NOOO!!_ Like a lightning, she snatched his sleeve, stopping him from moving any further. "Oniisan, stop! What did the dog ever do to you?!"

Kakuzu turned and yanked his arm back. He gave her a look. Upon seeing Kakuzu's confused face, she stopped tugging his arm and returned the look with something the same. "What? The dog hasn't done me anything." Kakuzu answered.

"Huh? So what…?"

Nagayoshi's words were put to a halt by itself as she continued to witness her brother advancing to the white dog. She blinked profusely when Kakuzu dug his fingers in the dog's thick white fur. She opened her lower jaw to ask some more but Kakuzu had spoken before her. "This dog is my friend—sort of. Anyway, if I kill him, I'd lose my chance searching for expensive bounties. Come; we shall follow him."

"You know it's a male?!" Nagayoshi finally got to shout out.

"And I know why he's here."

**|-oOo-|**

The white dog walked silently throughout the dense and thick bushy forest, leading the trio of Akatsuki behind him. In this trip, the birds provided the background sound. Occasionally, the zephyr would whisper and the leaves would pass on messages to one another. The earth retold the speechless journey of the three humans and the dog and the particles of air translated their unspoken feelings.

To be perfectly honest, this one trip was far more silent than before. Nagayoshi, being the 'new' person she was, noticed it almost immediately after they all followed the white dog's footsteps to god knows yet where. She knew that Kakuzu was never been a talkative type so she didn't blame him for the silence. The dog was already silent ever since she first saw him. Nagayoshi, though talked more than Kakuzu, was silent too due to finding nothing to discuss or argue about. She preferred silent walking anyway; it saved energy. So the finger was finally pointed to the Hyena Man also known as Baka whose real name was Ryouken.

The chatter organic automaton didn't spoke a word ever since they started to follow the snow white canine. Every so often, Nagayoshi checked over her shoulder to see how her brother's partner was doing. Apparently, he looked quite bored and uneasiness tagged alongside it. Not wanting to break the precious silence where she didn't have to sacrifice her eardrums, Nagayoshi stayed quiet.

Less than a twenty-minute walk later, the Akatsuki associates and the canine arrived at some lonesome tea-and-snacks shop. The delicious smell of brewed green tea fondled the tree-scented air particles. The traditional hang-on bells chimed at the cool breeze that just blew inside the shop. There were two types of seats: the indoor seats and the outdoor seats. The canine accelerated his mosey towards a wooden seat conveniently protected under the shades of a peach tree. He barked once or twice and a lean arm and hand stroked the white fur on his head.

"You surely aren't the most punctual person in the universe, are you?" a feminine voice spoke from behind the shady tree. The white dog stepped back, letting his master stood up, stretching her back after minutes of sitting down.

"Watch who you're talking to." Kakuzu replied coldly.

The feminine voice chuckled lightheartedly, "Okay…okay…I was just kidding." The face of the speaker then came to the eyesight of the Akatsuki duo and the subordinate kunoichi. It was indeed a girl, wearing a relatively loose green shirt and short tight black pants. Fingerless red gloves covered her hands and mesh t-shirt acted as an underclothing. Her feet and shins were protected by a standard kunoichi sandal boots. Her heart shaped face and her entire body were painted in pale cream. Her chocolate brown hair covered most of her face—except the right side—in a messy, spiky, scene hairstyle. A pair of triangular red marks was positioned on her cheeks. Her green eyes gleamed with the help of the warm sunlight—although only one eye that got to see the sunlight, the other was covered under a thick layer of bangs.

From what Nagayoshi was seeing, this girl was about the same age as Itachi. She even wore the same headband; different only because of the color of the band and the place it was tied around. Unlike Itachi who wore it on his forehead, this girl wore her headband the same way as Nagayoshi: around the neck. Although now she looked quite laid-back and relaxed, but from what she been through, anyone who was associated with Kakuzu (and not getting heavily harassed by the masked shinobi) must be a tough, independent soul. Possibly, a figure Nagayoshi should try to look up to.

"Got my message and the photocopy of the files?" Kakuzu asked, taking a shady shelter under the tree the girl previously sat under. He leaned against the tree trunk, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Yup. Although…you might want to send a different kind of 'teenage you' to send the files and your message to me. The files were soaked after your clone burst into puddle. Instead of using water clone, why can't you just use normal clone like a normal ninja?" she asked, returning to her seat and drink her tea again.

"Because I am no normal ninja." Kakuzu answered dryly, eyeing at the girl's tea with the eyes of interest but as well consideration (on none other than the price).

The girl laughed. Her eyes then flew to the two people who came along with Kakuzu. Firstly, to the disarrayed looking partner. "Hello there, Ryouken-san. Long time no see, huh?" she greeted with a smile. Oddly enough, it was a dominating smile.

Ryouken scowled. "Sure. Long time indeed…" he trailed off, intimidated by a pair of azure eyes shot up at him.

The girl then gazed at Nagayoshi at last. Nagayoshi just stared at her blankly, indifferently. She had not any judgment of her for now. The girl smiled again, softer this time, and asked, "And you are? I never see you before."

"I'm Nagayoshi. I'm his sister!" Nagayoshi answered gleefully, pointing at the masked ninja. As she expected, the first reaction she would give was pure astonishment—either because of knowing the fact that _the_ Kakuzu apparently has a sister 72 years younger than himself or because the fact that this kid wasn't a boy, but a girl. Nagayoshi somehow had to suppress the urge to grin impishly.

The girl whisked her head to Kakuzu who immediately said, "Believe her, seriously. I adopted her."

"Oh…" she muttered, still quite amazed by the discovery. "Then it's nice to meet you, Nagayoshi! Now let me introduce myself: my name is Katana Inuzuka, from the Inuzuka clan. I'm Kakuzu-sama's agent—the frequently-contacted agent." the girl introduced herself. She and Nagayoshi shook hands. "You never told me anything about having a little sister, Kakuzu-sama."

"I don't feel it's necessary." Kakuzu answered. He was joined by Nagayoshi who also wanted to shelter from under the shades. He sighed, straightening his back from leaning, "Alright…let's get it on. Hey, Baka, you go with me. We're going to catch our target. Katana, I assume that there are other people who also chased after my target. Your job is as usual: eliminate them."

"Consider that done!" Katana grinned optimistically.

"How about me?" Nagayoshi demanded. Kakuzu didn't say anything about her role.

"You go with Katana. My rivals are not one; there are many of them. Anyway, it would be a good practice for your detector ability, since you're going to do a lot of spying." Kakuzu added. He nodded to Ryouken and headed to the direction where his target was supposed to be. "Let's go. Katana, watch her for me, will you?"

While Katana nodded, Nagayoshi scowled indignantly, "I'm not a kid anymore!" she protested. Unfortunately, she was ignored.

Katana giggled, "Nah, that's okay, Nagayoshi. When I first worked for him, he didn't really trust me either. I was thirteen at that time. I guess, with age that old, everybody he sees are kids."

"Of course. Kisame was right. I should've called him grandpa…"

**|-oOo-|**

The brunette walked out from the bounty exchange point, approaching Nagayoshi and her canine companion, Shirozaki. Before they arrived at the exchange point, Katana explained to Nagayoshi that Shirozaki was not just an ordinary dog; he was a half-wolf ninken, a ninja dog that lived as long as humans. She also explained about the Inuzuka clan custom where each member has one companion dog.

By the time she got together with her companions again, Katana was reading a self-made note of names. Nagayoshi approached her to peek at the notes she was holding, face written all over with sheer curiosity. "What's that?" she asked. Since she was still much shorter even than Katana whose age was not so far older than her, she had a hard time to actually peek what was written inside the notes.

"Ah, it's the list of names of bounty hunters that are going after Kakuzu-sama and Ryouken's target. There are eight names in here. That's quite a number for rivals." Katana said, handing over the notes to Nagayoshi.

"Are they strong?" Nagayoshi queried.

"Who knows?" Katana shrugged. "Even if we can't really eliminate them, at least we stall them long enough for them to fail to get the target. Right?"

Not knowing what to say, Nagayoshi just shrugged. Apparently, the world of bounty hunting was not merely just search-and-kill. There was rivalry and registry too. Bounty hunters were considered registered when they took a wanted poster. Kakuzu was not one of them because he was assigned by Akatsuki. Then she remembered another thing, "Oh yeah…how are we supposed to know where these people are?"

Katana grinned and winked, "No problem!" From the pocket of her belt, she took out four similar objects, what it seemed to be a token. "I got this from the exchange point's entrance. Every bounty hunter needs to insert this token every time they are about to enter the exchange point. Using these tokens, I can track the people listed."

"How exactly?"

"Shirozaki!" Katana called. She held down the token, letting the snow white canine to sniff at it, picking scent of person other than his master. He barked and scampered toward a straight direction immediately. Katana and Nagayoshi rushed to follow the half-breed dog. With the lack of tall branchy trees, the two kunoichi and the ninken could not jump over the woods. Before long, they arrived at a small civilization.

Shirozaki barked again, louder and gruffer this time. The brunette nodded and repeated the same motion to Nagayoshi. The four paws stopped, beckoning the two pairs of feet to pull their brakes. He growled, his upper lip curling upward at a man who had just left the gates of the small civilization. A middle-aged man with grey hair stumbled upon them. Shirozaki barked fiercely again and the man raised an eyebrow, confused of the dog's wildly behavior.

"Hey, kid! This pooch's yours? Make him stop, will ya?! It annoys me!" he complained at Katana.

"Of course." Katana replied. She withdrew a kunai, preparing a fighting stance. "I'll make your world _much more _peaceful. Shirozaki! _Jinjuu Shuukyoku Taijutsu: Kyoubou Mangetsu No Mai!_" Katana and Shirozaki's limbs were suddenly covered with chakra. With a robust force, the two of them showed off their athletic skills, somersaulting in the air a few dozen times while kicking and punching the man with grey hair. They spun with great speed, making dodging hard to do.

Nagayoshi watched with awe while the man had his teeth gritted as the barrage of human and animal limbs kept attacking him unstoppably. After seconds of blocking and sacrificing a body part to get kicked, the man managed to grab one of Katana's arms and one of her legs. He smirked while the girl grunted, squirming to get free. However, he forgot that he was actually attacked by two, not one. Shirozaki, with a feral growl, dashed from behind and was about to sink his teeth to his shoulder, but a hand caught his neck, causing him to yelp.

Both kunoichis gasped in surprise. That man had just unleashed a _third_ arm. The long slit of his sleeveless vest made it possible for his additional arm to pop out. He laughed arrogantly, "Nobody escapes the four-handed glory of Mukade!" The fourth appeared and it rummaged the pocket attached to his thigh. He grabbed something that seemed like an alloy stick that length around fifteen centimeters. Before it had time to get mocked by either of Mukade's foes, the alloy stick extended three times its size, revealing its true form as an extendable baton. With much confidence, Mukade swung his weapon at the teenager caught in his primary arms.

The baton failed to bruise Katana's side as Nagayoshi's kunai blocked it. The younger kunoichi thanked the two-weekly matches she had with Kisame or else she wouldn't be able to block this man's power. Glancing quickly to the man's sides, she had one thing confirmed. "Four hands only, huh?"

The man pouted irately and obliged Nagayoshi's unspoken challenge. Fervently, he pushed away Katana and threw Shirozaki away, causing them to stumble on the dusty earth. With his remaining arms free, he used two to grab Nagayoshi on the neck and forced her hand to move. With the availability of skin contact, the young kunoichi smirked.

Her hair unnoticeably floated to the air; very slightly, but in fact there were currents running along the strands. When the floating became slightly visible, it was too late for Mukade. Hundreds of volts of electricity shocked him to the core, causing him to suffer a wild spasm. The hand that nearly choked her unclasped from her neck, his body quaking on the ground, creating small dust clouds. Nagayoshi coughed while watching Mukade's spasm dying out, leaving him motionless. She sighed in relief.

"Nagayoshi, are you alright?" Katana asked her, crawling closer to her.

"Yeah. Compared to me, how about you?"

"Don't worry about me. I've taken worse—far worse." Katana looked over to Mukade's motionless body. "What did you do to him?"

"Ugh, I just…do the usual thing. Made him make skin contact with me and unleashed a number of chakra to zap him to death." Nagayoshi explained through heaves. "I released quite a lot just now." she whistled in relief of tiredness, "Maybe too much…" She stood up and slowly walked towards Mukade. She looked down at him, almost warily. She poked his arm with her toes.

_Blink._

Mukade's baton-gripping arm swished as he threw his baton towards Nagayoshi. The sharp tip enhanced with chakra and successfully shed Nagayoshi's blood. The kunoichi was a little too late evading, thus the baton managed to create a gush on her cheek. Nagayoshi fell to her side, quickly crawling back from the rising Mukade. Since the effect of the electrocution still lingered in his systems, Mukade could only get up to his fours.

"You little prick…!" he snarled at the eleven-year-old.

"Nagayoshi!" Katana shouted. She stood before her, facing towards the furious Mukade. Her hand had already begun to make hand seals…

_Snap!_

_Growl…_

Mukade was once again motionless, but this one seemed to be more convincing. How couldn't it? Shirozaki's fangs were lethally dunked to the base of his skull. The white canine's fur was quickly stained with red. He spat the dead body to the ground and licked his mouth clean from blood residue. Meanwhile, Nagayoshi had to pant for the second time.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Katana asked, looking at the younger kunoichi over her shoulder.

"I'm convinced I'm not!" Nagayoshi spluttered. She rolled to get up and found Mukade's extendable baton lying somewhere beside her. Out of the blue, the fifty watt light bulb in her brain ignited to life.

Katana, meanwhile, stepped carefully to Mukade's body. Shirozaki sniffed at his prey and confirmed to his master that the man was indeed dead. Katana nodded and added, "But just to make sure…" A kunai was in her hand.

Nagayoshi picked up the baton, lifted it as high as her eye level and studied the unique piece of alloy. She tinkered with the handle, trying to figure how to curtail the baton into a fifteen centimeter stick again. She noticed a motif ring encircling tightly around the neck of the handle, close to where its extensions came to light. She curiously spun the ring to the right side. To her utter surprise, the baton shrunk one bar, reducing the size to twice the original. Starting to get how it worked, Nagayoshi spun the ring again to the right and the baton shrunk into a pocket sized stick. Gleefully, she giggled.

"Hey, Katana! Look at this thi—" Nagayoshi gasped, her eyes bulged at the sight before her. Katana turned around perplexedly. The muscle under Nagayoshi's eye pushed upwards, making her twitch. Katana's hands were as stained as Shirozaki's lower jaw and Mukade's condition was even worse than just simply having bite marks. "Augh…" Nagayoshi gagged.

"Is there something wrong? You don't look so good." Katana asked. Nagayoshi's twitch was pretty severe. At one time, she really did remind the Inuzuka of Kakuzu.

"Sorry…" Nagayoshi stammered, fanning the air before her face with her hand. "I just…can't stand that much blood. Plus…the unsightly view of that guy is sickening me."

Katana blinked. It was unlike what she expected. Being Kakuzu's sister, she thought Nagayoshi might have a stronger mind. "You're…afraid of blood?"

"No; no, I don't. As long as the blood came from a normal sword slash, punching, and such, I'll be fine. But if it's something…distorted…like this, I can't…"

Katana snorted a little. "That's something I won't expect from someone who actually lived with Kakuzu-sama. You do know how sadistic he is, don't you?" Nagayoshi nodded and Katana smiled softly, "You just haven't got used to it. Killing must be pretty new to you, was it?" Nagayoshi nodded again. "Me, it seems like I was made for this act. To be honest, I'm pretty much as sadistic as your brother—not too his extreme, though. Don't worry, Nagayoshi. As long as you stay beside him, you'll get used to seeing so much blood and eventually, you will see it as something normal. It usually won't take longer than a year or so."

"Do I have to get used to it?" Nagayoshi asked through covered nose.

"I don't mean to recommend it, but since you're mingling around the Akatsuki, yes, you do. Seriously, even if you don't want to, you will. Just like how Kakuzu-sama tolerates Ryouken. The first time he got partnered with him, he couldn't stop give him hell. Luckily, Ryouken knows his life was about to end unless he stopped. He would repeat his 'mistakes' again only to see Kakuzu-sama trying to bite his head off. But you see them now. Okay, I admit they're still not so close, but Kakuzu-sama can hold himself now."

"Hmm…that's right. Oh well, I'll try. But…could you please remove the body so that I don't need to suffer my first-kill-trauma again?" Nagayoshi requested, at the same time she turned around, removing her eyes from that unprepossessing aspect.

"Oh alright…" Katana rolled her eyes and ushered Shirozaki to drag the body away.

**|-oOo-|**

Immediately after disposing the body, washing the stains, and, in Nagayoshi's case, cleaning the wound on her cheek, they moved on again into the village. Katana withdrew all tokens, asking Shirozaki which of the scents were the closest. According to Shirozaki and Katana's dog-lingual translation, among the remaining seven, only two that was close. The other five were either haven't arrived yet, or they somehow had been eliminated by some other party.

It turned out that the two prospective Kakuzu's rivals were staying at the same inn. It was a good advantage for the two kunoichi for they can just corner them at the same place and kill them simultaneously. Since they didn't want to make a scene too gaudy, the girls decided to wait for their next targets to come out.

They were careful to watch their targets from afar. Nagayoshi's experience in watching her opponents over made her to make a decision to give twenty-five meter distance between target and themselves. Anything less than that may or may not give out their existence to the enemies. They watched their target up on a bushy tree, across the inn. Conveniently, the room of their target was just exactly above the entrance.

The hours then started ticking… One…

Two…

Three…

Four…

"Okay, this is ridiculous!" Katana grumbled, adjusting her sitting position to ease her sore behind. "I can't wait like this any longer! I'm going to die of boredom!" she complained, nearly tearing her hair.

"I know this is frustrating, but wait for another moment, shall we? I'm pretty sure…whoever it is we're after will come out to eat or something. Alright, you don't have to sit down, but don't blame me if you get busted." Nagayoshi replied. Although it was clear that her face showed a great amount of exhaustion, she still tried to wait. Actually, this time it sort of reminded her of the dark days in the primitive little civilization she was raised in for six years. She and her first adoptive siblings would wait and wait until a chance where they can thieve something from the market came. This, somewhat, was no different.

With much reluctance, Katana sat down again.

Five hours… (!)

"GAH! Get out already!!" Nagayoshi yowled; her hands were clutching her head tightly. "It's almost sundown, for heaven's sake! Why won't you _come **out**_?!"

"Oh wow. Aren't you patient?" Katana mumbled sarcastically. She had yawned for what it seemed to be the sixth time for the last one hour. Even Shirozaki was snugly sleeping on her lap.

"I have my limits." the younger kunoichi retorted.

"Well, then let's get it over. I know a way to fish them out."

"Eh, I don't know about that. Maybe next time."

"You won't know till we try it!"

"The risk is too big. The bounty they're after has quite a high prize. He must be someone strong or important to deserve such prize. And when there's a promising bounty, there will be strong bounty hunters. Who knows what these two can do!" Nagayoshi yapped. Upon stopping, she found herself stared oddly by her older companion. She raised an eyebrow, "Er…what?"

"God, you sound so much like Kakuzu-sama." the Inuzuka commented, almost scoffing in the process.

Nagayoshi twitched again, reinforcing Katana's opinion. "I am _not_! I'm not stingy!"

"Well…minus that part, maybe."

While the femmes were talking and/or arguing, Shirozaki (who involuntarily woke up due to the raucousness) noticed someone with the smell he had memorized walking out of the inn. It was him; it was the person—one of them—that his master was supposed to kill. In a very low volume, Shirozaki yipped to catch Katana's attention. He was glad he didn't have to work hard to gain her attention; his sudden rise from sleeping position had already made Katana's eyes follow his.

"That's him! He smells exactly like the token!" Katana whispered excitedly, especially that she didn't have to sit for five hours anymore.

The bridge of Nagayoshi's nose creased. "Ew…"

Following the lead of Shirozaki, the two girls silently and stealthily pursued the bounty hunter. With the lack of man power, they had no choice but to let the other bounty hunter escape. That one won't escape for long, anyway. Shirozaki and Katana will found him/her eventually.

The man walked on, not showing any suspicions of being followed so far. He entered the short fences of the public park. He found interest on the park's gazebo in the middle of the big fish pond. He sighed after breathing an abundant amount of air. He grabbed a small box from the pocket of his baggy grey pants, which turned out to be a menthol cigarette. Lighting it up, he then sucked the flavored smoke. The park was abandoned with the sun continued to drown in the midst of the horizon. He had picked the perfect time to smoke; no one—except the homeless, perhaps—will come to the park at this time of the day. Moreover, it was not a weekend.

The climate was to begin its periodical change again. The autumn was nearly over, winter breeze should be saying hello in a few days ahead. The wind blew as if to give another announcement that the climate was going to get really chilly. It blew harder, more strident—too strident, even.

He jumped up, evading from wild and lethal gyration that precisely aimed at him. He bit the tail of his cigarette, cursing at the awful damage the whirl caused to the floor of the gazebo. He evaded again, although there was no attack that chased after his life. He stood on the actually knee-length water. All the fish swimming beneath his feet dashed to a safer corner of the pond. God blessed them with a big pond for them to live in the first place.

Katana stood up to both of her feet after previously going to man-beast formation. She clapped her hands to clean the rubble dust from the palms. "Damn, I missed." she muttered.

The man stared at his attacker sternly. "Who are you? What do you want with me?" he asked in a growling manner.

"It's none of your concern. I'm just doing what I was told. Now sit tight so we can kill you." Katana, Shirozaki, and Nagayoshi hopped after him, standing on the water as well. They stood in their fighting stance.

The man laughed sardonically, covering some of his face with his hand. "Oh shit…you gotta be kidding me! Kids! Kids wanna kick my ass! Is this your best joke?"

"You ain't seen anything yet!" Katana made a stream of hand seals quickly, perfectly had its form memorized. She breathed air, collecting them in her lungs before projecting them as a humongous ball of fire.

A grin flashed. The man, too, made a stream of hand seals and from his mouth, a copious jet of water blasted. It easily extinguished the fireball, rocketing through the core and washed Katana aback. "It's a funny thing that you try to beat someone with water element using fire. Maybe you should research who you're about to face first next time you're about to kill someone. Oops, what am I saying? There is no next time for you."

"Let's see about that." Nagayoshi muttered, already standing behind the man. The man was startled; when did Nagayoshi got there? There was no time to waste, thus the kunoichi propelled her fist, giving the man a jaw-rattling right hook.

The unexpected landed on Nagayoshi's right side of the face, throwing her tumbling across the water. Quickly, Nagayoshi adjusted her footing. She glowered at her kicker but soon the menacing pair of eyes bloated. She couldn't believe what she saw. The man…there were two of him.

"We are the _Interlock Brothers_!"

* * *

**You know what I really like with this chapter? It's the first half being dry and boring and then action, fun, and kickass-ness on the other half. The first part was full of writer's block!**

**Katana and Shirozaki are not my OCs. They belong to .Flower. She and I had known each other from Quizilla. Katana-san is a lucky girl! Her 'job description' fits the timeline and story plot of Bird Cloth so well. Although in her 'resumé' (gosh, I started to sound like Pein) her jutsus are in English but I translated it to Japanese to make it sound like the original Naruto. The translation, though, may be incorrect. I just follow Kishimoto's method. How's that, Blue? You like that?**

**Translation:  
_Jinjuu Shuukyoku Taijutsu: Kyoubou Mangetsu No Mai_: 'Man-beast Ultimate Taijutsu: Berserk Dance of the Full Moon' **_[Lit.: Brutal Full Moon Dance]_


	16. Double Trouble

**Chapter 15: Double Trouble**

"Ongyuu-sama!!!" a man with messy sienna hair called over a bearded man covered in dark green and white man's yukata. The younger man stopped before him, panting from running a long way. The bearded man waited for the younger to talk. The young man sighed, "Whew…okay! I need to talk to you. Have time?" An insane laughter vibrated at the back his throat, arduously restrained from getting too loud.

"Are you alright?" Ongyuu asked, a bushy eyebrow rose in an assortment of suspicion and confusion.

"Ah…don't mind me. I'm always like this. Hehehe…"

"Alright then…what do you want to talk about, lad?"

The younger man smiled impishly, his yellowish-white teeth gleamed under the sun's dusk light and his eyes shrunk into two thin lines. "Nah…Kakuzu-dono, not yet!" he sort of whined, although his mouth, cheeks and eyes said he was smiling.

"You're slacking off, Baka." Kakuzu coldly criticized. Yet, his partner had already used to his harsh words. Ongyuu glared to his back; a tall man with a mask was standing there. His green eyes were glaring daggers at him. His right hand darkened and solidified ten times harder than meat. "Get on with it!" he snarled to his partner.

"Osu!" Ryouken clasped his hands together, silently activating a jutsu that he only has it. _Seishinbyou No Tsume: Activate!_ As soon as said jutsu was commenced, both of Ryouken's lower arms were covered in rough light brown fur. His fingers transformed into long ivory sword-sharp claws, still capable of bending like normal human fingers. He laughed deviously, clanking his claws with one another. "Let's scrape some bounty!!!" he shouted hyperactively.

Ongyuu withdrew a scroll, bit his thumb, and summoned a gargantuan red spiked mace. It was even bigger than Samehada held by Kisame. "You're not the only one with weapons." he hissed at his attackers, especially Kakuzu, who he immediately knew was the brain in the duo.

Hidden under his mask, was a delighted grin. "Now I see why your head is prized so high."

Ongyuu shouted his battle roar, swinging his mace as if it was just a mere kendo sword made of bamboo. On the other hand, Kakuzu waited for the mace to land. A psychopathic laughter echoed in the advancing evening.

**|-oOo-|**

They were exceptionally identical. There was no symmetrical feature trait that enabled whoever sees them to use to differentiate them. Their thick stubbles hairstyle only made it harder. Their clothes were plain red with no motifs. There was just no way.

_Kagebunshin?_ Nagayoshi pondered. She immediately shook her head. _That's impossible. They call themselves 'brothers' just now. They are twins._

"Now that we're together," the brothers said simultaneously in-sync, "we're unbeatable. We're inseparable and most of all…" they clasped their hands together, lifting it as high as their shoulders, "we're omnipotent."

"Don't be kidding!" Nagayoshi spat, making hand seals for _Raihou_ and immediately blasted it at the brothers.

Katana followed Nagayoshi's initiative, making hand seals completely different to the giant fireball previously used. Just like Gokakyu, she breathed lots of air into her lungs. She blew them out, "_Katon: Kemono No Ka'enshingou!_" A giant fireball shot across the air, side by side with _Raihou_. The fireball's made a wolf shape as it rocketed in the air before it exploded into a tsunami of wild fire.

The brothers grinned; they faced each other in a swift motion and clasped both of their hands together. Their fingers moved in a perfectly synchronized manner, making hand seals like normal people did with two hands. The only difference in them was they actually make two hand seals simultaneously with those combined four hands. "_Fuuton-Suiton Konbi: Nureta Taifuu!_"

Whirlwind flurried madly around the twins. With water beneath their feet, the wind carried as much as they can and protected the brothers from getting burned and electrified at the same time. Katana's _Kemono No Ka'enshingou_ futilely tried to lick the identical men with its excruciating heat while _Raihou_ was misdirected by the wind, shooting somewhere Nagayoshi didn't intend to shoot. The explosive fireball eventually ceased and the brothers were unharmed, much to the girls' dismay.

"We are Wani and Gaku. We are the Interlock Brothers. We are invincible!" they said altogether, their voice as one.

Nagayoshi scowled and growled, particularly to their behavior. They didn't seem to speak like this when they were alone. "Shut up already!!!" she shouted at them. The brothers blinked at her outburst of annoyance. "You talk like that again; I swear I'm going to rip your throats out of your neck!" she bellowed angrily at the twins, regardless that they most likely would defy her order.

"Everybody says that." said Wani, smirking smugly at the younger kunoichi. His twin bore the exact expression.

"But none of them are alive." Gaku finished.

"Then I'll volunteer to be the first!" Nagayoshi snapped, without cue dashing towards the appallingly identical brothers. A row of small tsunami burst as she ran to attack.

"Nagayoshi, wait! You don't know what they're capable of!" Katana yelled, but she was too late.

Wani made a short series of hand seal and slammed his hand opened to the body of water. Far across him, Nagayoshi felt the water rippled, indicating that a jutsu was in motion beneath her feet. A jet of water suddenly shot up like a rocket-powered bamboo shoot. Nagayoshi was fast enough to evade and she didn't waste time stopping; she kept on going. Shurikens were clipped between her fingers in a blink of an eye. She darted the metallic stars at Wani with no hesitation.

Stepping affront, Gaku clasped his hand and breathed deeply. When he blew the air out, a 200 mph vortex of wind gushed out, effortlessly sending the shurikens harmlessly away from the twins. However, the blown shurikens shot to the opposite direction, back to their thrower. Knowing what was going after her, Nagayoshi protected her face with both of her arms. She winced when she felt sharp tips of the shurikens sliced the skin of her arms and legs. The powerful surge of wind forced her to add weight to her legs in order to endure from getting blown away like her weapons. It swept back her hair, flapping her loose black jacket and hurting her eyes. She waited for the wind to cease as well as tolerating the shurikens' pierce.

The wind's speed finally reduced into just a couple meters per hour. Nagayoshi carefully opened her eyes but her extra sensory already rang the alarm for an approaching enemy. As soon as her retina was allowed to absorb light again, she immediately was greeted by a man much taller than her dashing toward her. She backed away quickly before she got wounded by a tanto he swung at her.

Katana grabbed her own tanto and she and the other twin (she thought it was Wani) clashed the same weapons. They tested their muscle strength by seeing who can keep their blades up with pressure against it. Katana gritted her teeth while Wani smirked smugly, knowing that a mere girl couldn't possibly beat him. Katana knew it was time for a little deception; she shifted her feet a little.

Shirozaki roared and lunged at Wani, his teeth bared. Fiercely, the half-wolf half-dog attempted to snap off Wani's wrist. He failed, but he still managed to tear off some muscles. Wani shouted in agony, grabbing his injured arm painfully. "Gaku!" he shouted.

"Wani!" Gaku responded. He whipped his head to his injured beloved brother. His eyes bulged with terror looking at his grave injury staining the clean pond water. Nagayoshi used this chance to make her move. She also thought it was a good chance to try out her hoarded new weapon: the extendable baton. She unleashed the baton to its full length that was three times the size of its initial form and with a merciless full-powered swing she hit Gaku straight on the cheek, causing the other side of the face to wave about flabbily.

Gaku submerged to the shallow water due to the lost of concentration on the chakra mold on his feet. He spat blood to the water as well as a molar tooth. He glared lividly at the eleven year-old who lolled her tongue waywardly at him. He threw a couple of kunai at her which she easily evaded. Gaku then retreated, followed by Wani. Nagayoshi was about to pursue them both but Katana this time managed to hold her up.

"Wait! They're together." Katana said urgently.

Nagayoshi pouted, "So what?"

"When they're together, they combine hand seals and chakra to make a stronger combination jutsu. I guess they're using this so-called 'twin link' for the timely coordination and their different chakra element to create the combination. You can say that by being together, they have created a fake Kekkei Genkai." Katana explained her hypothesis to the impatient Nagayoshi.

"So what are you suggesting, Katana? We should hold hands and created two hand seals at the same time too?" Nagayoshi suggested sardonically.

"I wish we could, but we don't have the timely coordination that they have. It's gonna take us years to do it. But…I think I might just know how to counter them. All we need to do now is to see what they're about to do."

Nagayoshi gaped, "Haa?"

"Just trust me!" Katana hissed.

"Wani, give me your hand!" Gaku commanded his brother hurriedly. Wani quickly gave him his good hand and without being told, they began to generate hand seals with unspoken cues and directions. Their clasped hands separated and settled on two different angles: Wani's hand touched the water, and Gaku's hand was stretched in front of his face. And they released their jutsu: "_Hyoton: Reiketsu Fubuki!_"

From Wani's hand, the water rippled before jets of water jumped up from the surface and met the strong winter wind generated from the pores of Gaku's hand. Together, they become an element that was supposed to be only available to people from certain clans: snow. The wind changed its blowing approach from straight into a whirlwind and the small ice particles from the water helped it to create a miniature blizzard.

"Katana, we need plans right now!" Nagayoshi bellowed to the older kunoichi.

"I got it! Nagayoshi, shoot when I give you my signal! Shirozaki, time to roll!" Katana shouted. Shirozaki barked and a billow of smoke covered him. With the help of the fierce wind shooting towards them, Nagayoshi quickly found two Katanas and no Shirozaki. Her eyes dilated with amazement. "Let's go! _Katon: Engatsuuga!_"

The two Katanas spun rapidly together, creating a drilling and spinning worm-like distorted line. Immediately after they began to spin, fire engulfed them altogether. Although in such speed flames usually put out temporarily, but in this case, the fire was so intense it was nearly impossible for it to extinguish in the middle of usage. Thus, with the heat intensified by the blizzard wind, it only got wilder and wilder that the ice and snow melted and the wind from the base _Gatsuuga_ counterattacked the whirlwind until it died down. At the end of the blizzard, the Katanas stopped spinning and ducked down.

"Nagayoshi, now!" the real one bawled.

Quickly taking an aim, Nagayoshi shot her best and the only long-distanced jutsu she owned. With no hesitation, she blasted _Raihou_ and it whooshed across the cleared windless path Katana made for her earlier. It hit the brothers, most especially the previously soaked Gaku, the one that was standing. _Raihou_'s high voltage fried Gaku to the core until his skin was entirely cinder-like, including the smell. Wani evaded on time, since he was not standing. However, he was horrified of the view of his twin brother. He vengefully aimed his glare at Nagayoshi and not the one closer to him.

When he remembered that the partner of the little girl was somewhere near him, he didn't found any teenage girl. Instead, he found two dogs, both were growling at him ferociously. Wani shivered and was unable to move under the dogs' bloodlust glower. His scream cued the closing curtain for tonight's fight, accompanied with the two dogs' snarl and growl orchestra.

Still on her spot, Nagayoshi watched with incredulity at her partners' finishing touch. She blinked profusely.

Changing back to her human form, Katana clapped her hands in satisfaction. An equally satisfied smile slanted across her face. "That settles it! The other bounty hunters won't make it on time to catch their target as Kakuzu-sama must have captured it by at least an hour later, so we have no need to eliminate them. Good job, Shiro!" she smiled to her animal partner, patting his head. Shirozaki yipped and his tail wagged. "Good job, Naga—" She gaped; the sister of her superior was submerged face first in the fish pond. "Nagayoshi!" she rushed to her side and pulled her up to the surface and to the terribly broken gazebo. She slapped her face slightly, trying to wake her up. The younger girl groaned. "Talk to me, girl. Are you alright?"

"Nnuh…" Nagayoshi groaned, "Hungry…. Need…apple…"

Shirozaki's eyes squinted unevenly; he made a yowl in a nonplussed fashion. He looked at his master for answers. Katana laughed hesitantly, "Uh…I guess that means she's okay."

**|-oOo-|**

"BOOOOOYAAH!!!" Ryouken screamed in such high pitch that Kakuzu had to close his ears tighter than usual. As if that one wasn't enough, he added more whoops and shouts of triumph. Kakuzu couldn't blame him for being ecstatic; this target of theirs was quite tough. How he was supposed to know that this guy was capable of using _Kuchiyose_?

_Stupid files…_ he grumbled mentally, while still plugging his ears with his fingers. _Didn't say anything about giant BULLS! I almost become their matador, damn it! Now I owed that little smelly __insensate ludicrous thick-headed imbecilic dunderhead a gallon of gin!_ The list of rants could go on and on if Kakuzu didn't remind himself of his mission and, in denial, his sister. He tripped Ryouken while the overjoyed brunet was having a victory dance.

"OOW! Kakuzu! Would you mind? My dance isn't finished!" Ryouken protested indignantly. Childishly, he filled one side of his cheeks with air. That…did not amuse Kakuzu at all.

"If you think by acting like my sister you could win my submission, you're wrong, numskull. Now bring the body for me and let's wrap this mission up. We're running out of time." Kakuzu said coldly, walking ahead of Ryouken to the address given to him along with the files. It was the address of the client.

"Uh…since when we're timed, man? Is that a new regulation Pein-sama secretly set up so that he only have to pay us half the normal salary? Holy son of a bitch!" Ryouken swore in surprise. His absurd imagination quietly made Kakuzu's body shiver. Paid only half…god, what a nightmare.

The masked ninja cleared his throat, knowing that that was impossible. "Put your imaginations on a leash, Baka. It's just me being impatient."

Dragging the body behind him, Ryouken skewed his eyebrows. That frazzled expression then immediately turned into a sneer. He cackled maniacally, "Ohoho…you're worried of your good little baby sister, aren't you? Aw…Kakuzu-sama is so protective…" he cooed.

Not saying a thing, Kakuzu raised a fist in the air while his feet kept on walking to the designated address, threatening to pluck off any teeth from Ryouken's mouth.

Ryouken, however, didn't seem to grasp his message. "I want to see how she goes. Does she succeed on nailing any rival bounty hunters? I really wanna give her a big, _big_ hug if she does." he grinned toothily.

At which point, Kakuzu turned around and his hand detached from his elbow and shot at the Hyena Man to grip on his throat. The younger ninja choked while the older snarled. "Listen up, you imbecile, if you ever touch my sister I can promise to you that you'll never touch anything again—even yourself! Get it?!" He released his neck, letting him cough to take air. He turned around and was about to walk again.

"That's…kinda unfair…don't you think?"

Why did he have to release him?

**|-oOo-|**

Savoring the freshness of an apple Katana bought for her, Nagayoshi squealed. She chomped more of the fruit, being watched with interest by the chilling out Shirozaki. Katana came to sit beside her, having a meal of her own. She looked at the younger kunoichi with concern. She asked, "Are you sure it's enough? I can buy you takoyaki if you want."

Nagayoshi gulped. "Nah, it's okay. It's a big one, so it'll stuff me just enough. Anyway, I don't want to owe you any more money. I'm not as rich as my brother, you see. Oh and…I don't want takoyaki."

"What? You don't like it?"

"Um…not really. It's just…last time I had takoyaki…it was in Kumogakure. Oniisan and I were treated by a man who in the end came attacking our house and attempted to separate me from my brother. So…yeah, it brings back dark memories." Nagayoshi smiled wryly. She fumbled with her half-eaten apple.

"Did Kakuzu-sama find you in Kumo?" Katana asked. She had not got the chance to ask anything about her before. This might be the only chance; especially that they were in a relax manner.

"No. Actually…I sort of found him. I stole his purse, you see, and then he chased me. It was a long story. There are even some parts that I can't remember. After that, Oniisan just took me to Kumo and we start calling ourselves siblings there." Nagayoshi looked onto the stars, hoping the sparkly astronomic rocks could help her remember some points in her past life. "If I'm not mistaken, he used to say that the sibling status was just for a cover-up—like a façade."

"Oh, I get it." Katana interjected, nodding understandingly. "It turned to be not a façade anymore." She then grimaced; an eyebrow was raised. "That's weird. That almost doesn't sound like Kakuzu-sama at all. How come in your version he seems to sound so…warm?"

Nagayoshi shrugged, "Really? He's not warm every time. Back when I was still trained under him, all he did was criticizing and hitting my head even if I only made a really eenie-weenie mistake. I hardly remember when he praised me last time." She stored her legs, hugging them close to her chest as the night was getting colder. Upon pondering on Katana's words earlier, a devious grin decorated her face. "Ah…Katana, are you jealous because I get more attention from him than you do?"

Katana, who was eating at that time, choked on her meal at the same time Nagayoshi mentioned the word 'jealous'. She pounded her chest, coughing. Subsequently, blood rushed to her face. "What are you talking about?" Cough. "Me—jealous? Don't joke around, kid!" Sighing now that she wasn't choked anymore, she added, "Anyway, it's normal if he gives more attention to you. You're his sister. You're the closest person to him."

"Okay…if you say so. But don't worry to speak your feelings out to me—"

"I'm serious." Katana deadpanned. Nagayoshi laughed at her reaction, causing the older to scowl in annoyance.

"Oh!" Nagayoshi exclaimed. Something popped in her brain a few seconds ago.

"What is it? I hope it's not another joke about my feelings again…"

"No, that's not it. Where are the bodies of the twins?" she asked.

Katana smiled and gave Nagayoshi a thumb-up. "Neck broken and disposed. They will never rise from the dead that way and their disfigured body won't be easily noticed by passersby."

"You…fried the other one too?"

"Yup. That was inspired by you, Nagayoshi. Thanks a lot! That was a good idea—burning them down."

Nagayoshi grimaced and chuckled half-heartedly. "Uh…right. You're welcome. But, seriously, was that really necessary? Do you really have to, at least, break someone's neck?"

"Hey, it's a matter of life and death. It's either we kill them or they kill us. I don't want to risk leaked information from them, so that's why I have to be sadistic. And _that_ is my _nindo_." Katana smiled confidently. What she got in response was an uneven aligning of eyes.

"_Nindo?_ What's that?" Nagayoshi asked. "I think I remember one of my school teachers mentioned something about it, but I didn't seem to pay attention…"

"It's like your very own proverb—words of wisdom—whatever you want to call it. I stick to my _nindo _for all my life. That is how I stay alive."

"With words like that, how couldn't you." Nagayoshi commented. She then cupped her chin; she found having her very own words of wisdom quite interesting. She tried to come up with one but found none of them that were inspirational. She crunched her forehead at the idea blankness.

Katana laughed at her efforts looking for her own _nindo_ and she tapped Nagayoshi's back. "Take it easy, Nagayoshi. It will come up before you know it. I found mine not too long ago."

Nagayoshi laughed at her stupidity and Katana joined her. Shirozaki was not really interested (not that he could laugh, anyway) and decided to wander his gaze around the woods surrounding the small shop the three of them were relaxing at. His ears then pricked at two different footsteps walking towards them. He recognized both footsteps and the scent accompanying them; there were two people. He liked one of them while he also grudged the other one. He rose to sitting position, his snout pointed at the direction the two people came from.

"You two look like you have a good time." Kakuzu's bass voice filled the night air. From the cloak of darkness, he and his psycho partner stepped out.

Nagayoshi beamed. She jumped from her seat and ran towards her brother. "Oniisan!" she called, stopping right in front of him. Kakuzu did what he usually does to Nagayoshi: rubbing her head. "Took you a long time!" she said. "I wanna show you something!"

"What would that be?" Kakuzu asked interestedly. It was just not every day that Nagayoshi wanted to show him something with such enthusiasm.

With no suspense held, Nagayoshi pulled out the extendable baton she stole from the bounty hunter Mukade. Kakuzu's interest nearly drained if Nagayoshi didn't demonstrate the features of the baton. First, she unleashed it at full length. "See? Isn't it cool? This thing is just perfect for me. It's actually quite long, but I can shrink its size so I can store it in my weapon pouch. And…" She crunched her eyes; her chakra flowed through her skin onto the baton. The chakra coated over the baton in a bubbly pattern. "It's supposed to absorb my chakra but I can't really shape my chakra into a blade-like pattern."

Kakuzu patted her head again. "Well, that just needs practice. Unfortunately, I can't supervise you this time when we're at the base. You know me; always busy."

"Then who else can? Erai is the most vacant, but he can't speak so he can't give me much information. Uh…no offence to him. Oh! Maybe Kisame or Itachi can!" Nagayoshi rambled. Unknowingly, her last piece of words caused two pairs of ears pricked. Before she knew it, she was facing a wide-eyed Katana Inuzuka.

"Did you just say Itachi? As in Itachi Uchiha?" Katana asked brusquely. She unconsciously shook Nagayoshi on the shoulders.

"Ow, ow, yeah…. The quiet, stoic, good-looking Uchiha, if that's what you're asking. What—what's the matter? Your ex?" Nagayoshi asked, squirming away from Katana's hands. Again, her words caused some ears pricked again, but this time it was the men's ears.

"He's not my ex! He was just a good friend of mine back then." Katana defended. She added, "Ever since the Uchiha massacre, I never see him anymore. I never expect that he had joined Akatsuki."

Ryouken's shoulders drooped with the lost of enthusiasm. "Well, he's with the org ever since he was just thirteen. He's quite of a senior member now—well, he's still the youngest, though."

"Is there some way I can meet him?" Katana wondered, her head hung low.

"I don't know. But who knows, maybe you might stumble upon him someday. He's a member, anyway. Pein-sama sent him anywhere quite frequently." Nagayoshi replied. "If you want to, I can tell him you say 'hi'!" she grinned.

Katana smiled to her offer and nodded. "Please do."

* * *

**That ends the guest appearance of Katana Inuzuka! Clap your hands people! I want to, once again, say thank you for .Flower for kindly letting me use her OC. I start to like her more, oh and I think I've become Shirozaki's fan. He's the coolest canine ever! I seriously need to develop some conspiracy between Kakuzu and Ryouken. I just had something. Must write it in my draft book! Anyway, another name meaning session: Wani and Gaku are written in the same kanji, and it means 'crocodile'. This is why I learn Japanese in the first place!**

**Jutsu translations:****  
_~Seishinbyou No Tsume = _'Psychopathic Claws'  
_~Fuuton-Suiton Konbi: Nureta Taifuu = '_Wind-Water Combination: Wet Typhoon'  
_~Katon: Kemono No Ka'enshingou _= 'Fire Release: The Beast's Flare'  
_~Hyoton: Reiketsu Fubuki _= 'Snow Release: Cold-blooded Blizzard'  
_~Katon: Engatsuuga _= 'Fire Release: Flame Fang Over Fang'**

_[Note: Translations might be wrong! I only put words together. I'm not THAT good in Japanese, okay?]_


	17. La Nuit Blanche

**Chapter 16: La Nuit Blanche**

Snow had replaced the rains pouring the Village Hidden in Rain over three weeks ago. Despite being borders with the Fire and Wind Country that lacked snow (but not the chilly wind), Amegakure was capable of having its own snow. All thanks to the wet atmosphere. Today was the middle of winter and also the last two weeks of the year. Many people were relieved from their jobs—including the Akatsuki. The last two weeks of December and the first two weeks of January were the only times where Pein let his criminal underlings and himself having some break.

At these times, Pein looked as if he 'vanished'. He did not go out and meet the fellow Akatsuki. He did not, even just once, call any of the Akatsuki to his office. It was also the time when he needed Konan the least. On account of that matter, Konan was seen during breakfast later than usual (normal time: 0400 hours/holiday time: 0615 hours) and more often too as she usually stayed in Pein's office as frequent as the leader himself.

And since this was the first day of holiday…

One of his eyes began to flutter. With his conscious turning on his nerve systems again, he cursed in mind at the chilly temperature brushing his currently exposed ears. Kakuzu raised his hand to rub his ear, to warm it up. It was then he heard a moaning right in front him, a little below his chin. He needed not to look down to know who that was. Stealthily, he tried to squirm out. Unfortunately, the climate was not on his side. With the cold air exposed to Nagayoshi's face, she instantly grabbed the closest warm thing to defrost her face—in this case, Kakuzu.

The older ninja gulped. He didn't like this position. "Hey, Nagayoshi, aren't we supposed to…you know…wake up and have breakfast? It's seven in the morning already. It's past our usual wake-up time." he said awkwardly.

Nagayoshi grunted in an unladylike manner and grabbed Kakuzu closer to her. "Whatever…I'm still sleepy and your body's warm. Now stay put."

Kakuzu sighed. "I told you not to play poker till past midnight."

Nagayoshi cranked an eye open to look at her brother. "It's not my fault if it's fun. Anyway, I beat Sasori-danna twice."

"I don't even know he's good at poker…"

"BOOYASHAKA! It's the beginning of holiday season! OWW! YEAH!" Someone shouted on the horizon and it was heading towards his room, much to Kakuzu's dismay. Kakuzu virtually slapped his forehead.

"Oh god…of all people that has to barge in to my room this morning, why _him_? I can't let him see me like this!"

"Oniisan, don't go thinking too far, please. It's not like I have a choice to sleep in the same bed as you. Why can't you just buy me a new bed instead?" Nagayoshi asked drowsily. That cry of joy from Ryouken woke her up for sure. However, since Kakuzu was such a heat producer, she couldn't help but stick to him like a baby koala.

"Never mind. It was goddamn expensive! I had this bed only a few weeks before I found you in that primitive little village. It was after my old bed's spring had accidentally stabbed me on my back that I finally decided to buy this one. Now since it's still fairly new, why can't you just shut up and don't ask anything regarding 'buying new stuffs'?"

"WHOO! Kakuzu-dono it's time to—WHOA! Holy mother…is this incest I'm seeing?!" Ryouken shouted. Kakuzu's face had long disappeared underneath his hand.

"Where?" Orochimaru asked, his head popping from behind the door frame. Now Kakuzu wished he had a multidimensional hole on his hand.

"Say something like that again and I swear I'm gonna use you in replacement of turkey!" Kakuzu roared at his partner. It was then Kisame and Itachi passed his door. "Oi, Kisame! Take the girl out, will ya?!"

Kisame grinned and barged into Kakuzu's room, knocking Ryouken aside. "No problem, Kakuzu!" The blue ninja went to Nagayoshi's side and scooped the girl up in his arms. The first came from her mouth was a screech.

"Kisame! It's goddamn cold!" Nagayoshi shouted frantically. She jumped out of his arms and took some warm clothes from the wardrobe in the room. "Alright, alright…let's eat something…. Hey, where's Erai?"

"Last time I check, he wasn't in his room. So maybe he's upstairs." Kisame answered. He chuckled at the still lethargic Nagayoshi. "You can always borrow my body warmth, if you want to."

"Thanks. That'll be very helpful." Nagayoshi smiled before she yawned widely.

While his sister and her friends went up to get some breakfast, Kakuzu remained in his room for another while. His partner decided to stay with him, sitting on his working chair. "What are you gonna do today, Kakuzu? You know it's the holiday season, so you can't possibly work on the papers."

"Who says I'm going to work? Of course I'm taking a break—unfortunately not from you." Kakuzu replied. His voice dropped cold at the last sentence spoken. He hopped to his feet and took his warm clothes out of the same wardrobe. Since he knew he wasn't about to go anywhere that might require his full capacity, he let the four masks behind his back closed with three different clothing.

"Let's have some drink, shall we?" Ryouken offered. He grinned at his partner who stared back at him with eyes of consideration.

"Okay." Kakuzu finally said. "Your treat." he quickly added before Ryouken got the chance to say the same thing. His partner gaped and was about to complain but he just couldn't. Kakuzu had beaten him—square.

"Ah…shit…"

Deviously, the masked ninja chuckled as he stepped out his room, heading for breakfast as well. "Well, I'm looking forward for tonight."

**|-oOo-|**

Nagayoshi grunted, pushing a lot of effort concentrating her chakra on the alloy baton she was holding in her hands. She grunted harder, pushing more chakra in hopes by doing so the chakra coat around the baton would sharpen into a fine blade-like flow. She sighed, finally, but her efforts did not get any better. It was still bubbly pattern. "Aw, man!" Nagayoshi whined. "It had been weeks but I still can't get it into something smoother!"

Kisame chuckled while Itachi indifferently sipped the hot chocolate he had prepared inside a thermos. "Well, I might be too late to say this, but molding chakra is never easy. You might be natural with lightning chakra, but this is a whole different thing."

"Isn't there a way—a prompt, maybe—to make this easier?" Nagayoshi demanded, dropping her knees to the snow.

Kisame cupped his chin, thinking. "I'm not sure. In my place, we did everything the hard way."

"Ah, Kirigakure style…"

"You use your imagination." Itachi interjected. All eyes flew to his casually drinking hot chocolate figure. The steam covered his face as he sipped more of the warm liquefied cocoa. Then he spoke, "Imagine you're holding a sword, describe the sword's keen edge and the thinness it requires. After that you let your chakra flow naturally, like how you usually electrocute people. It's that simple."

Kisame gaped; he never expected his partner could explain a seemingly simple method and explained it so smoothly as if it was as easy as turning a hand. He thought Itachi was not a smooth talker. Maybe he shouldn't really underestimate him anyway.

Nagayoshi beamed and grinned. She waved gratifyingly at Itachi and shouted, "Thanks a lot, Itachi! I'll give it a shot!"

While Nagayoshi experimented with Itachi's method, Kisame smirked at his partner. Itachi, who noticed the sneering facial muscle pull, vaguely raised an eyebrow at the blue ninja questioningly. That was enough for Kisame to tell that Itachi wanted him to comment. "I never knew you'd actually help her." Kisame remarked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I thought you don't give a damn about her."

"I never said anything like that." Itachi defended himself using his iconic stoic tone.

"Yeah, but your face says so. So it seems like the phlegmatic Itachi Uchiha has feelings after all." Kisame sneered.

"Never judge a book by its cover, Kisame." the young Uchiha prodigy replied, once again embalming his lips with the warm beverage. "She knows that." he added, staring at the hard-working Nagayoshi.

Kisame's eyebrows dropped to the back. "She never sees the real me before." he said glumly. "In those fighting matches, even the first one, I was holding back. If I didn't, she might have ended up missing a chunk of muscle or two. I know it's unfair for her because she used all of her efforts and might to take me down, but I barely used an ounce without telling her."

"How does it classified as unfair? I'm pretty sure she understands. Anyway, she might have found out about it already, even if the source was actually Kakuzu."

Nagayoshi molded her concentration on the baton again, but freely this time, instead of intensely like the previous attempt. She opened her eyes and the chakra coated the alloy in a wavy, squiggly pattern. She laughed triumphantly, "Eureka! I did it! Itachi, Kisame, I did it!!"

Kisame blinked and stared at Itachi who gave him an once-in-a-lifetime I-told-you-so smirk. The smirk only lasted a while since Nagayoshi gave the young Uchiha a flying bear hug. This time, Kisame got the last laugh.

**|-oOo-|**

Erai refused to see Nagayoshi training her chakra-forming at breakfast. He claimed (through hand language) that he had to go somewhere. That 'somewhere' he did not mention, making Nagayoshi suspicious of him at first. So then he had no choice but to explain that he was going outside, buying some stuffs he will need for the winter. He also added that he was assigned by Orochimaru (who is apparently cold-blooded to the literal term).

He was thankful that Orochimaru hated the snow. He could always use his pathetic seasonal dormancy as an excuse to go out alone. Well, he _does_ usually go alone on missions. He didn't mind not having a partner and he also didn't mind to become partners with Zetsu. Being quite of a pacifist, Erai did not hate anyone, not even Ryouken, much to Kakuzu's surprise.

However, Erai going alone in holidays was a weird thing. Since this midget was a social man, despite his lack of communication, he liked being with others. Before the arrival of Nagayoshi, he was close with Kakuzu and Kisame. Everybody knew why Kisame and Erai could be close—it was because Kisame's personality. In Kakuzu's case, the masked ninja liked him because he was the exact opposite of his partner. But he never knew someone like Nagayoshi. She was different and he liked being around her.

In the afternoon, while Nagayoshi was practicing, he went to the city to buy the things he needed to buy. He had walked a few hundred meters away from the base tower and he finally stopped in front of an all-in-one shop. He rotated his head to both of his sides, seeing if anyone he knows were behind his tail. No one. Good. He stepped into the shop, causing the bell to ring as he opened the door. The lady of the shop greeted him and he just smiled, not wanting to tear the shop down into smithereens.

Ever so soundless, Erai's eyes scanned a certain aisle of the shop. He stopped in front of a shelf and stared at the object that caught his eye. He cursed himself for being so short immediately afterwards. The object was out of his reach—far beyond his reach.

"Yo, Erai!" Kakuzu rather less roughly smacked the back of Erai. Not expecting the company, Erai jumped a little and reflexively, clamped his mouth with both of his hands tightly. "Hey…hey…it's just me…" Kakuzu whispered.

Erai turned to Kakuzu sourly; his squinted eyes glared daggers at him. He then rested his forehead on the nearest flat object—in this case, the divider of the shelves. He rubbed his chest in order to calm himself and he tried to maintain his breath. He just blew five teddy bears to the back of the shelf just with a silent yet windy breath. He was glad he only moved some objects aback and not a sound. Otherwise, his entire buying-something-for-winter-needs event would reduce to rubbles—literally.

"Sorry. 'Thought you'd know I'm here. You always put your guard up, that's why." Kakuzu apologized. He looked at his surroundings. It was filled with…toys? Kakuzu gave Erai an odd look; luckily, the chibi didn't see the way he looked at him. "Uh…what are you going to buy in here?" Kakuzu queried.

Stiffly, Erai held his head up and robotically marched to the next aisle where there was tons of hot chocolate powder stacked and ready to be bought. Kakuzu followed the shorter Akatsuki, driven by suspicion and curiosity. Mindlessly, the short Akatsuki snatched all kinds of hot chocolate into his shopping basket. The masked ninja's eyes bulged in horror—with that much consumption, this month's sheet will end up in a giant amount of minus. He rapidly impeded Erai's hand, stammering, "Whoa! That's enough! You're putting our annual bonus in jeopardy!"

Hardheartedly, Erai snatched Kakuzu's collar, pulling the taller Akatsuki to his eye level. He glared his Persian blue eyes at Kakuzu's green ones. With another hand, he put a finger in front of his own mouth. He dared not make a 'shush' sound. Kakuzu nodded understandingly and adjusted his collar after Erai released it.

"Okay…I'm not gonna tell anybody about what you're doing here. The others are still at the base—except your gang. Nobody's in the town other than us. Say…are you going to put most of those cocoa powder back or what?" Kakuzu pointed at the surplus cocoa powder.

The masked ninja suspected that by the time he pointed at the excessive shopping, Erai's mind must have muttered "Shit…" for the midget scowled and blushed in embarrassment. Helped by Kakuzu, he put the unneeded back to where they belonged. He ended up buying two boxes of cocoa powder and also frozen Chinese steamed bun. After purchasing, Erai exited the shop, followed by Kakuzu behind him. As soon as he was out in the snowy atmosphere again, he looked nearly spiritless.

"Something seems to bother you." Kakuzu said. Erai looked at him, face showing his desperation to sigh out loud. "Not that I care entirely about it." he added. "Ryouken and I are going to have some sake later at night. Kisame's coming with us too, if that should make you feel better."

Erai glanced skywards, thinking over Kakuzu's offer. It wasn't a bad idea, so he nodded. But soon afterwards, he quirked his eyebrows. Kakuzu had his eyes smirking while his mouth remained under his mask. "The Baka's treat." Kakuzu said, answering Erai's unspoken question. If only he could let at least few decibels out, Erai would let himself laugh. "Oh, and don't hesitate to knock the bartender down again if he still doesn't let you in and have some spike. You are, after all, allowed to drink."

"Oniisan! Erai!" called a familiar not-so-feminine voice. Nagayoshi waved her arms dynamically, effectively catching the attention of the two older Akatsuki. Erai waved humbly and Kakuzu merely turned his head. The androgyny lunged at her brother gleefully; a glorious grin sparkled on her face. "Oniisan, guess what, I _finally_ make a pattern less bubbly on my baton! It was all thanks to Itachi! If it wasn't because of his methods, I would take another week or two!"

"Itachi? Advices?" Kakuzu posed disbelievingly.

"Don't look at me." Itachi snapped coldly. "Shut up, Kisame."

"I haven't said anything!" the blue ninja protested.

"Hey, what are you buying there, Erai?" Nagayoshi asked, checking the insides of Erai's paper bag. She frowned, "More hot cocoa? I thought we still have a lot at the base."

"He doesn't seem to think so. Right, Erai?" Kakuzu asked his shorter friend who nodded briskly.

A spine-chilling airstream blustered, slowly frosting the humans it touched. The Akatsuki was no exception. Itachi rubbed both of his arms and huffed. He walked ahead of his comrades. "Let's go back." he said.

"Good idea. Although it's not really a bad idea to get as cold as you can before having some toasts of sake." Kisame remarked. "Oh, right. Itachi-san, you're still underage."

Kakuzu followed the duo with no comments, beckoning at Nagayoshi and Erai behind him. The two shortest of the group followed. Another gust blew, once again abusing any exposed skin with its subzero temperature. Nagayoshi's neck was one of those unfortunate skins to get frozen by the wind and she adjusted the neck of her sweater to warm herself. Her inner mind grumbled and complained at her sweater for having such a short collar that didn't entirely protect her neck. Plus, with that boyish hair of hers, it only made it worse.

Warmth all of a sudden engulfed her neck. At the same time as she sighed in relief, she was also struck with surprise because of the fact that Erai wrapped his scarf around her neck and let his neck got touched by the wind. Blinking profusely, Nagayoshi eyed at the grey and white scarf tied loosely on her neck, covering her Kumogakure headband. She stared at Erai speechlessly. What she got for a response was a soft pat on the head and a friendly smile that brought winter to spring in a way Nagayoshi was yet to grasp. He continued walking and pulled Nagayoshi's gloved wrist in his gloved fingers. Nagayoshi passively followed where his hand took her and she thought that the scarf's thermal magic began to work to the point where her face changed color into something darker than her already latte-tan skin.

**|-oOo-|**

"Oniisan, you're going somewhere?" Nagayoshi asked, later at night. Since this was the first winter she spent in Akatsuki, she had no idea that Kakuzu liked to go outside too, even in the middle of winter at night.

"Yeah." Kakuzu answered, buttoning his cloak. He grabbed his head gear and slipped them to his head as he spoke, "Ryouken invited me for a drink tonight and I agreed to go."

"You? Drink? Isn't sake sort of…pricy?" Nagayoshi asked again. An eyebrow was raised to accentuate her disbelief that her brother did not just agree to go out with his most hated person in the world but also actually drink with him. If anything should get any bizarre, don't hold back.

"Yeah, they are…but that's what Baka's for. He's going to treat us."

"Oh, really?" Nagayoshi giggled and Kakuzu responded positively as the corners of his lips lifted a little. "Well, aren't you a lucky guy, Oniisan." she chuckled. Then she added, "You said 'us', does that mean there's more than just the two of you?"

"Kisame and Erai are coming with us. We would like to invite Pein-sama, but you know he's never available at this time of the year. Sasori doesn't eat and Orochimaru just won't step into the snow. Konan is an anti-alcohol. Zetsu is sort of allergic to alcohol—don't ask; plant stuff. Meanwhile you and Itachi are underage."

Nagayoshi scowled. "Why do I always feel underestimated every time you say something like that?"

Kakuzu shrugged and equipped his black mask. He nodded to his sister and opened the door to his room. "I'll be going. Don't mess around while I'm gone." he said before he left, mocking eyes flashed from his jade ones.

"Stop treating me like a kid!" Nagayoshi complained out loud but she was ignored. Kakuzu chuckled as his figure disappeared behind the closing wooden door. As soon as he exited his room and climbed the small set of stairs that lied before his room, he was greeted by the blue-colored friend of his sister. His arms were crossed and a bemused expression was worn on his face.

"I never had any siblings but…was that how a sibling relationship supposed to work?" Kisame asked.

Kakuzu tapped Kisame's shoulder and walked ahead of him, towards his partner's room where he will wait for the laughing maniac to come out and fulfill his promise this morning. "I found it pretty normal for a big brother to tease his little sibling around. That's just how nature makes us."

Kisame's left eyebrow ascended, half-disappearing behind his headband. "Is it just me or is there something different in you somewhat?" he asked, pointing a sort of suspicious finger at the masked ninja.

Kakuzu shrugged. "I don't know. How different?"

"Uh…I can't really tell. It's just…you look—maybe not exactly, but this is the closest thing I can come up with." Kisame rambled confusedly. Kakuzu just stared at him indifferently although he was quite curious of what he had in mind. "Anyway, you look…happier…" Kisame finally manage to blurt.

That was not what Kakuzu was expecting. His eyes expanded slightly at the positive-aired vocabulary. He pocketed his hands in the pouch of his cloak; one or two of fingers twiddled. "Hmm…maybe it's because I don't have to spend a cent for tonight's drink night. That pretty makes my day." Kakuzu replied, shrugging once more. He spotted their mute companion stepping down from the stairs that lead to his room.

"Hi, there, Erai." Kisame greeted the midget. "Looks like Ryouken's the only one that's not here yet."

"That little simpleton is doing it on purpose." Kakuzu grumbled and quickly stormed to the older Kumo ninja. Vehemently, he jammed his fist on his door a number of times. "Come on out, Baka! We don't want a miss a single drop of sake, now do we?!"

The door then yawned open lazily and an equally lazy brunet appeared from behind it, his expression not as crazy as usual. "Oh, okay…I just take as much money from my savings, that's all." he said with much sorrow in his voice. However, that sorrow failed to arrow any of Kakuzu's heart as the octogenarian pulled his collar. "Quit stalling and let's get going. I never feel so excited to drink before."

"Ack! Kakuzu-dono, you're choking me!"

Kisame and Erai followed their strides; Erai having a little difficulty. The blue ninja sighed, "And they say they're not close."

**|-oOo-|**

Itachi gazed around from the snowflake-raining sky to the portal behind him. As his neck revolved, he wondered of who his guest might be. It couldn't be Kisame because the tall ninja went to go with the guys to have some sake. Thus, the answer could only land on whether Sasori, Orochimaru, or Nagayoshi. He hoped the second guess was wrong. Even the first guest seemed to unbefitting as well, since he and Sasori were not close nor were they enemies. Then the third guest was the only one left and the only answer with a lot of sense too.

Despite that he was not mute like Erai, but somehow he and Nagayoshi had least communication. Even with Erai he still had some more communication, although most of them were done speechlessly. But with her…it was just they never really talked. He only simply gave a comment or two and then shunned himself out of the conversation, as if he was never there. He did realize the kunoichi's attempts to speak to him. Unfortunately, he never really thought of those attempts useful in any kind of way and ignored them. Now that they lost their usual talking partner, they can only talk with each other.

Nagayoshi timidly poked her head into Itachi's room. She took her time to scan the room, as if to check if there were monsters ready to devour her into the black hole. Itachi watched her silently as she took shy steps into his room. She gave him a goofy grin, making an impression as if she went into the wrong room and Itachi was about to crucify her if she didn't go out soon. He sighed at her awkwardness and said, "Why don't you just come in and tell me what you want?"

Her posture unwound and she stepped more casually towards him after she got the permission to enter. "Everybody's leaving us and I feel rather lonely in Oniisan's room. So, I figure, maybe you would want to keep me company." she flashed a goofy grin again.

Itachi suppressed an urge to sigh and tapped at the empty space on his bed beside him. Without hesitance, Nagayoshi dashed to the directed place. She hopped onto the bed, causing the spring to bounce back after getting pressed by her weight. Itachi grimaced invisibly as his body shook together with the bed. He resumed watching outside the window, ignoring Nagayoshi's confused gaze as she tried to follow the direction of his eyes.

"What are you looking at?" Nagayoshi asked after with very much exertion trying to catch what Itachi caught with his eyes.

"Nothing. Except the snow." he answered indifferently.

"Okay…what's up with that?"

"Have you ever heard of spacing out?"

"Is that what you do most of your lifetime? Spacing out? Geez, I'm surprised Kisame stands to be your partner." Nagayoshi commented, unknowingly had followed Itachi's little stare-at-the-snow game.

"He's a friendly man. The only problem is nobody wants to be his friend because of how he looks. We are probably the first people to treat Kisame like a human immediately after seeing him for the premiere time." Itachi said, his voice mumbled.

"How about Erai?"

"He's been here before me. I don't know." he answered simply. Their atmosphere was then engulfed in silence. At this point, Nagayoshi suddenly found the pleasure of staring at the snowy sky. Now she understood why Itachi enjoyed doing this. In the end, every silence ended up with someone started talking, and surprisingly, Itachi broke this silence. "Kisame and I talked about you during your practice."

"Oh. What did you guys talk about? That I'm incredibly cute and adorable?" Nagayoshi asked mischievously. She giggled at her random, narcissistic guess. She knew it was impossible, even before Itachi made his response.

"In your dreams. We don't talk about silly things like that." Itachi replied. "So…we talked about your and Kisame's spars. He claimed that you didn't know the real him." Itachi noticed his younger talking companion gave him a raised eyebrow; he continued, "I suppose what he meant by the 'real him' is him when he's in the battlefield. Brutal, unforgiving, sadistic, unstoppable, all that jazz. We discussed about him holding as much power as he could so as not to let you lose a limb."

"Ah, that. He must've thought it was sort of unfair for me, didn't he?" Nagayoshi asked.

Although not visually shown, Itachi was impressed of Nagayoshi's deduction. This girl, despite being only eleven-and-a-half years old, was quite perceptive. That was only to this extent though. She has yet to grow—even Itachi himself still grows. He nodded, confirming the precision of Nagayoshi's assumption.

"Well, I didn't really know until Kakuzu-niisan told me. After I thought about it, he was right. It's impossible that I, a little kid, can keep up with a fighter as experienced as him. Anyway, Oniisan told me that Kisame has a power equal to that of a demon. So I really understand why."

Itachi contemplated at her answer for a while. His pitch black eyes softened as they talked. This girl, although she may not be the most intelligent being on earth, she was a perfect person for him to talk to. He didn't know why, but he couldn't really talk like this with Kisame. Sure, she sneered at him once in a while—just like that partner of his—but she also seemed to have the empathy he needed. Maybe if she was older, he could tell more?

"Kisame would be very glad to hear that, you know?" he muttered.

Nagayoshi blinked and then smiled. "Well, tell him that." Her eyes wandered around the room, looking at the night table, the drawer and…oh, is that a photograph? She turned her body around; Itachi followed her gesture. "Hey, is that a family portrait? Can I see it?"

"No!" Itachi snapped briskly. Nagayoshi whipped her head, startled at his sudden outburst. She blinked profusely, thinking, _What the hell's going on?_ Moreover, her stiffness made the thought sounded loud. Itachi cleared his throat awkwardly, "Um, don't. I'm not really confident showing it to you." Itachi walked towards the photograph and stored it inside the first row of the drawer. He rested his back against it, preventing it from being opened by the girl.

The kunoichi smiled softly and approached the young Uchiha. Itachi intended to stand on his ground, but it turned to be unnecessary since Nagayoshi didn't force him to let her look at the picture. "I know your history, Itachi. Maybe not through the details, but I know what you did to your clan."

"Are you going to lecture me on that?" Itachi asked, a little warily.

Nagayoshi grimaced. "If I know what happened exactly. I still can't believe a guy like you can kill so many people in a single night, though. You gotta be so powerful to be able to do that."

Yawning and seeing that the night was getting late, Nagayoshi tapped Itachi's upper arm before leaving back to her room. She glanced back at Itachi for one last time. "I'm going to bed. Anyway, it's nice talking to you. Now I know why Kisame enjoys being around you. Good night, Itachi." And she left; the door concealing her short figure. He could hear her humble footsteps drawing farther.

He sighed—with no one looking, he could express as much emotion as he liked. He silently took the photo out of the drawer and glanced at it for a short moment. Yes, he knew he could trust her, but not to this point—yet. He did not want to tell the whole story, not to anybody. "I'm sorry…" he whispered.

**|-oOo-|**

After leaving Itachi in his room, Nagayoshi didn't immediately fell asleep. She re-read some interesting parts in the book called _Tales of the Gutsy Ninja_ once more. She loved the story so much and when she told Kakuzu, her brother snorted derisively. She thought that the story was full of morals of optimism. The action was enough to fulfill her boyish demands while the drama was enough to touch her feminine side. It was full of win—for her, at least.

The book made her eyes wet when the first time she read it. She read it again and she still cried. Kakuzu didn't know this; she wouldn't show him that she just cried just because of a story. If he ever finds out, he would never stop nagging her. She smiled as she read the letters printed on the brown-yellowish paper and she sighed contently. Her smile and watery eyes disappeared in an instant when the door to her room opened and the hunch-backed stature of his brother dragged in. She stared at him weirdly then to the clock. It was almost twelve in the midnight. Looks like he got back right on time.

"Oniisan, you okay?" she asked, watching as Kakuzu powerlessly climbed to the bed and lied down beside her. His face was buried in the pillow and he sighed to the comfort.

"Mmmf hmmph…" he said. His voice was muffled by the pillow on his face. He raised an arm and his finger pointed at his shoes. He wanted Nagayoshi to take them off.

Nagayoshi rolled her eyes and obliged her almost-dead brother's last wish before he went to Cloud Nine ahead of her. She also helped her brother took off his mask and headgear. It was harder to take off those from his head compared to the shoes. She had to force Kakuzu to face her first then she can safely remove the headwear and mask. As soon as his respiratory system was liberated, he proceeded to sleep, not bother to say good night to his sister.

"Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling?" Nagayoshi commented silently, shaking her head at the fast asleep Kakuzu (and by fast asleep, I mean _fast!_). She turned off the lights and went to bed herself. Little did she know, that the next morning, it will be filled with groans and gagging from Kakuzu as he suffered through a case of hangover. But on the brighter side, she didn't get squished by Kakuzu.

* * *

**Ah, a calm chapter after three chapters full of fighting scenes. It's worth it. Take it as a rest from all those actions. I've never had the idea that writing Erai could be so hard. Dialogues are heavily restricted when I narrate his solitary moments and since Kakuzu can't possibly read his mind. I can't even use his thoughts too often too as it will only sound like a normal dialogue in the end. (sighs) More of that trouble to come. That Kakuzu getting drunk is so god fragging OOC! I feel guilty writing it!! GAH!**

**Other than that, Nagayoshi is having a serious Sue time here. Well, okay, none of them have crush on the girl but still...especially the scene where Itachi and Nagayoshi talked. I think, that is where she became most Sue-esque. =_= This is bad...she must not be a Sue. I don't count OCxOC pairings as a Sue factor though. Which means as long as the people that have crushes on her are mostly OCs, it won't be a Sue (in my opinion, at least). I restrict only to have at most 2 canon characters crushing on my OCs.**

**By the way, expect a slower update. I'm having troubles in connecting a scene to another scene. Well, the main events are as clear as crystal in my head. But the intervals between them...not so clear. Although...the next chapter (19) has already finished, but I stick to my schedule of updating every Friday.**

_Next: It's a short tale from the hometown…. With its changes and mundane life. _


	18. Meanwhile in Kumo

**A/N: Gosh! Two weeks? Wait, was it more? I'm so very sorry to you, oh dear readers for the terribly long wait. My laptop was broken terribly and I had to get rid of it. Now, I'm using my cousin's laptop which he so kindly lends to me. As a bonus of my absence, today I shall give you TWO chapters instead of one. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Meanwhile in Kumo**

The house of the Mokujo family had been filled with turbulent, unmusical coughs for the last five months. The head of their family was falling victim to an illness. Strangely enough, he was just in the middle of his fifth decade. Well, he was never been the healthiest son in the family. His brother, the third Raikage, however, was like a tank. Strong and endurable.

One day, Umasaki brought her elderly father a glass of water to quench his ever-present thirst. Quietly she opened the door to her father's room. There, the former Master Strategist was fast asleep. Without making too much noise, she settled the tall clear glass on the side table. The elderly man shifted in his bed and continued to snore. Umasaki smiled serenely and bent down to kiss her father's forehead. Then with the same amount of silence, she left him to regain his strength and head to meet her friends.

Her friends…

Well, not all of them were here, in Kumo.

One had defected away over a year ago. She was the first person to talk to her freely and understand her hard-to-socialize habits. She was the first person to be her _true friend_, despite that she had some before she befriended her. She was, probably, the first one to have taken her seriously in those one-on-one school tasks that has to do with fighting. She even didn't really care if she was the Raikage's niece or not. Umasaki wouldn't find another human like that again.

Unfortunately, on last year's spring—just one day after their graduation, which was the greatest day of their life—she betrayed her village to go with her brother. Her _criminal-in-disguise_ brother. Her _criminal-in-disguise-whose-records-and-sins-were-off-the-charts_ brother. She couldn't understand; hadn't the village given her a potentially perfect life? How could she waste such gift?

"Uma-chan, you're late!" Akito bleated irately. That punctual-must habit hadn't disappeared from her. She still liked to scold her friends in hopes that would make them a better person in the future.

"Now, now, Akito…we all know that Umasaki has a life outside the team. Her father is ill and so she has to take care of him. How's your father, Umasaki?" their Jonin sensei, named Isagatsu, reconciled the both of them. He knew they won't pick up a fight but Akito needed to understand her problems. "Anyway, Raikage-sama called us for something important. Now that we're all here, how about we just get going?"

"Alright." Umasaki nodded. She then turned to her male teammate, also a longtime friend of her, Akito, and Nagayoshi's. "Nervous, Masao-kun?"

"I'm never nervous." he replied stoically. He jumped ahead, leaving before his teammates and sensei. Isagatsu nodded to his female students and followed Masao. Akito immediately followed the boys but Umasaki took a moment of contemplation before soberly hopped from roof to roof behind her friends.

Nagayoshi's betrayal affected Masao the most—visibly. The warm boy with ever half-lidded cool eyes has now turned into a soulless, cold and stern-eyed boy. It happened like suddenly—well, so to speak. After receiving the grave message about the betrayal of the said tomboy girl, Masao was utterly shocked. Umasaki remembered his flabbergasted face very clearly in her head when she and he first heard of the news. The news was like a moon-sized meteorite fell upon the earth, leaving a crater half the size of Earth herself for Masao. His eyes for once were fully opened, thanks to disbelief's can opener. Masao was used to known as a boy with lacking emotional display—except warm smiles. Ironically, that little nick name had taken its extreme turn and made it even more obvious than ever. Masao was the most emotionless child in the country currently.

Before she knew it, the team had stopped. She ended her hopping session as she landed in front of the Raikage's office located on the village's highest mountain. She rubbed her unprotected arms as she entered the lobby of the town hall. The surrounding of this place was never for once hot, let alone warm. Being obscured 24/7 by thick clouds and being closer to the tip of atmosphere compared to anywhere else, the heat just couldn't stand being around here. At least she knew she didn't have to rub her arms all the time since the inside of the town hall was warm.

Isagatsu knocked on the door, the portal with Raikage kanji painted in blue exclusively to mark that behind this door sat the high and mighty Raikage. The door was then opened by a young woman, the Raikage's secretary, and welcomed the leader's subject politely. After closing the door, she stood by beside the door and listened to the upcoming conversation. The four-man team gathered in front of the Kage's table, waiting for him to say his purpose of summoning them up here.

"You called us, Raikage-sama?" Isagatsu began politely.

The powerfully built man gazed up using his rock hard eyes. Although the team knew he never meant to glare at anybody, but his eyes were always fixed like that. "I'll just go straight ahead, since I'm no good in talking senseless." A said. He inhaled gruffly and continued, "Your mission in searching and bring back the missing-nin Nagayoshi is cancelled." he said straightforwardly, his tone bolded the obvious meaning that it was an absolute order.

Although Isagatsu showed less reaction, his students were not. They were all wide-eyed, astounded of the order. Akito's eyes were supposedly to be the widest opened; even the lately emotionless Masao's reaction was too clear to be categorized as hidden. "But why?" Akito protested—an attitude that hasn't change. "If we don't move right now, she might get stronger and maybe eventually she will attack the village!"

"If we act right now, your team will be toast! Do you not realize who you're facing with?" the Raikage roared. Akito was easily pushed aback, though her eyes still expressed her protest. Umasaki winced due to the sudden uproar in her cousin's voice. It was wrong for Akito to protest. A always gladly retort to protests and his counterattack was usually stronger. He continued, "Do not forget that that kid was no ordinary kid. For years, ANBU had discovered that she's a lightning natural, probably even a Kekkei Genkai focusing on that typical element. Moreover, she was secretly mentored under an _S-ranked criminal_, for crying out loud. We failed to gather information about her brother's identity and his criminal records and none of the bingo books in the world had his head on the price line. We don't know if that criminal brother of hers has associates or not, which bloats up the risk of hunting her down. And don't forget that he was exceptionally powerful for being able to knock down eight most powerful ANBU singlehandedly."

"Dad also said he rose again after being pierced right through the heart. That attack should have killed him and dad said he died for only a moment." Akito added, recalling the slipping info from her father sometime ago. She curled her hands into fists as her blood boiled with upset.

A nodded curtly. "Exactly my point. That man has a power unimaginable even to ninjas. If we're reckless, it's not them who lose but us, and you kids are too young to die."

Umasaki shut her eyes melancholically. Like her friends, she was disappointed to be prohibited from searching their missing friend. But at the same time, she appreciated her cousin's care for his citizens. Being a pacifist she was, submitting to her cousin's order was the only thing she could do. Her unusually mature way of thinking knew that A has something good in mind.

Right as she was thinking of that 'good', the Raikage added, "Anyway, the task is now transferred to another ninja."

All ears pricked to listen to the details.

"Nagayoshi had been reported spotted around the southwestern part of the Fire Country numerous times. Most of the time, she is said to walk with her brother and another man also an exile from our village. Like I said, her brother is associated to some group whose name is yet to be discovered. Right now, I'm sending a member from the Kumo Elite Hunter Task Force to replace your task." he explained. Unknowingly, A had caught someone else's attention.

"Excuse me, Raikage-sama," Isagatsu interjected. Immediately, all eyes flew to him. "This exile…do you happen to know his name?"

"Ah, of course. He was one of Kumogakure's notorious criminals. A crazy maniac that does everything evil because he thought it was a fun thing to do. He reigned over the headlines nineteen years ago, if I'm not mistaken. The oldest of the Claws and Talons Brothers. His name is Tatsudao. Ryouken Tatsudao." the Raikage answered gravely, crossing his hands on the table.

"Tatsudao? So that guy is still alive?" Isagatsu exclaimed in extreme shock. His shock, compared to his students, was more serious. It was a whole different matter; this was not about a mere defecting child. It was solely about a notorious maniacal man, hunted for years and presumed dead whose doings in the past was anything but good deeds.

"Apparently. I was surprised myself when I heard the news."

"And about the Elite Hunter Task Force member?" Masao suddenly spoke after minutes of muting himself. "You haven't told us who this person is."

"I'm sorry, Masao. That information is confidential. I know some of your family members are part of the task force, but I can't tell you who's hunting Nagayoshi right now." A answered. Although he said sorry, his face was still as stern as usual.

"What are they going to do to Nagayoshi? Are they going to kill her on place?" This time Umasaki asked.

"Nagayoshi, as talented as she may be, is not powerful enough to take down the Elite Hunter. As soon as the Elite Hunter overpowers her, she shall be returned to this village—as a permanent prisoner in Land of Lightning's newly built high-classed prison." A scrutinized over his young cousin's face and a smile (hard and discipline eyes still attached) crossed his genetically dark skin. "Don't worry, Umasaki. Kumogakure is not a primitive village. We don't execute children."

Akito huffed, "As long as I don't hear her saying petty apologies, I'll be happy. That bitch needs to know the true value of friendship."

A sighed, "Fine. You may be dismissed."

With no further ado, the team exited from the Raikage's office after bowing respectfully before their leader. The four of them climbed down the mountain in which the town hall sat securely. As they hopped from one rock stand to another rock stand, Masao spoke out his rare voice and thought.

"Umasaki," he called, "were you worried of her well-being?" he asked coldly.

"Huh?" Umasaki stared at her male teammate confusedly. Her eyebrows were skewing.

"You still care about that traitor even after what she had done to us?" Masao asked snappishly, for once after long months locking his emotions away behind his chest. "If you care about her so much, why don't you just join her or something?" the boy shouted heatedly. The wounds in his pained little heart flickered back to life.

"I don't care about her! I don't give a damn about how she's been! Once a traitor always is a traitor!" Umasaki snapped back. She didn't like it when someone accused her like that. That would be the only time where she would actually use a muscle on her throat.

"Masao! Umasaki! That's enough! Your arguments are based on an emotional disturbance matter. Leave it be." Isagatsu scolded them both. "Anyway, Masao, it's not like you can judge someone's opinion. Umasaki's way of thinking is different from yours."

Masao gritted his teeth and spat indignantly. Isagatsu noticed Masao's sentiment change and he asked, "You don't act like yourself, Masao. Looks like the cancellation of the mission to retrieve Nagayoshi back really pissed you off, huh?"

"More than anything…" he growled faintly.

"Well, A-sama has a point, you see?" Isagatsu crossed his arms. Masao glanced sourly to his Jonin sensei and he saw a smirk on his long, oval face. "Let us presume that the Elite Hunter failed to bring Nagayoshi back, do you know who's going to do the task again?"

"Another Elite Hunter." Masao huffed.

Isagatsu cackled scornfully, "My…my…Masao. I never guessed. You're such a wet blanket. What I'm trying to imply is we practice more and do more high level missions. Chuunin exam is coming up, so why don't you three join in? I can arrange you for that. Also…I might as well help you make a new jutsu. You three are going to be stronger than ever and when you finally meet her, you'll fight to the death. How does that sound, folks?" Isagatsu smirked. Teaching three ninja school prodigies like this made him optimist that these kids could become stronger even than him. He would like to see that and he would be very proud if they do.

A dark smile appeared gradually on Masao's now cold face. "Not a bad idea." he muttered.

"We won't fail the Chuunin exam! We promise!" Akito punched her fist to the air. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get sparring right now! Uma-chan, will you spar with me?"

"Um, sure." Umasaki answered hesitantly. The next second later, she found Akito's hand on one of her shoulders.

The more feminine girl grinned optimistically, "Don't worry about your father. He will be alright. I'm pretty sure he wants you to live on as a ninja the village loves."

"You think so?"

"Yup!"

Umasaki smiled, though not as bright as Akito, "Alright."

* * *

**The shortness of this chapter is intentional. Anyway, Nagayoshi should watch out now. The people from her ex-village are starting to hunt her down! Oh, by the way, this chapter sets sometime in the beginning of summer. That means the drunken party from the last chapter and the New Year holiday is over months ago already. The next chapter will show Nagayoshi in her twelfth age!**

**Why…every time I write Isagatsu smirking…I always get reminded of Gin Ichimaru? I swear to god, his character is not based on him! And…Isagatsu is written in the kanji 'black finless porpoise'. Speaking of names, I just found out that Killer Bee's bro, the Yondaime Raikage's name is A (read: 'ay'—just to clarify) I was like LOL-ing when I saw it. I mean, what, their father's named Alphabeta? XD**

**Maybe I should make an OC for both of them named Cee! XDD (shot)**

_Next: The Elite Hunter is on its way. How will Nagayoshi and Kakuzu going to react?_

**EDIT [9/12/2011]: Thanks to Kishimoto's late revelation that Raikage 3 is Raikage 4's dad, now I have to make some changes. Now Umasaki is no longer the Raikage's daughter, but his niece instead. If she were still his daughter, then there will be no use for adopting Killer Bee. Same changes is done to other chapters containing this fact.**


	19. The Bird's Natural Enemy

**Chapter 18: The Bird's Natural Enemy**

"What on goddamn freaking earth is that?!" Kakuzu snapped, shaken. He didn't usually snap in a pitch the highest his sound tape could create (and since his voice is deep and thick, even the highest pitch still sounds quite deep). Moreover, with a personality like him, it seemed impossible to hear him snap in high pitch. It even surprised him, inner-mindedly.

Nagayoshi rolled her eyes exhaustedly at her brother's reaction. She knew _this_ would happen. Yet, she still endangered herself like this. Haughtily, she replied, "I believe you know that the name of this thing is shoes." Ignoring her brother, the now twelve year-old Nagayoshi equipped her new footwear to her feet and legs.

"What's wrong with your old one?" Kakuzu asked, squatting to warily scrutinize over Nagayoshi's newly bought shoes, fitting snugly around her mildly muscled legs. What he got for an answer was a tired glare shot directly to his face. "What?"

"Dude, I think your ears were blocked by that stupid headwear of yours." Ryouken said, rolling his eyes too. "On our way here—well, sometime after our last battle with the lizard-summoning bounty—the sole of her old shoes were broken. I remember she said she was going to the town to buy new ones. Only…you were counting your money—again." the Hyena Man answered matter-of-factly.

"Hate to disappoint you, Oniisan, but Ryouken's right to the bottom." Nagayoshi confirmed. "I did excuse myself to buy new shoes."

"Is it discount?" Kakuzu asked quickly.

"Why should I care?" Nagayoshi retorted dryly.

"Why should you care? Of course you have to care!"

"I use my own money, okay! It's not related to the Akatsuki's finance!"

Kakuzu was profusely twitching and, if his headwear was taken off right now, steam would evaporate from his pores. Ryouken tapped him on the shoulder and leaned against him, one arm circling around his neck. "Relax, Kakuzu-dono. At least by seeing that Naga-pyon actually pays attention to her properties and fashion, it confirms that she is indeed a girl, not a boy. A true ladies' man would know that." the insane man said, grinning widely.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Baka, but I'm not a ladies' man." Kakuzu grumbled, yanking his head from the younger man's arms. He sighed loudly and massaged his temples. "Fine then. I'll go shut my mouth. See if I care!"

"Don't worry, Oniisan. I'm not going to buy another shoe—not at least until my size grows at fifteen." Nagayoshi sighed exasperatedly. "Damn, if it ever grows again, I don't know if I still can buy sandal boots. This one is even the biggest they have."

"What size are you, by the way?" Ryouken asked.

"Forty-one. It's one number off from the standard women's size. That's why I desperately hope my feet won't grow once I get older."

Ryouken whistled in amazement. "A couple of millimeters again and you're wearing boy's shoes!"

"Can we stop talking about fashion and set up the camp right now?" Kakuzu called, interrupting the two's conversation. Nagayoshi hopped to her feet and helped her brother collect dry sticks to fuel the bonfire. Meanwhile, Kakuzu's partner sighed and laughed while shaking his head.

**|-oOo-|**

The owl hooted, acting as a sign that the big-eyed, rotatable-headed night watcher was present. It also warned flesh-eating pests to stay away from the superior being taking a rest below the branch it perched on. Its night vision eyes scanned the whole area meticulously, trying not to miss a single movement.

Tree lizards…they were hunting a kingdom of termites inside a trunk of a small tree.

Caterpillars…constantly and unstoppably consuming green leaves to make its wriggly body fat and nutritious for smaller birds.

Sparrows…were comfortably nestling in their small self-made woven branch basket. There were three tiny eggs inside.

A mouse…sniffing at some pouch made of a material the owl did not recognize.

The owl send more blood to its wings, energizing them both so it can take off and made a hunt. Its wide yellow eyes focused only one animal which was the rodent. Using its fully fueled folded limbs, it swooped throughout the blinding darkness swiftly without knocking at other objects. The owl was not like the bat. The owl was not blind and it can hear just as good as the bat. It was an animal with perfect assassination equipment.

Unfortunately for the mouse, it was on disadvantage. It did not have the owl's set of ears, despite that its ears were bigger. Without given the time to rebel, the mouse was easily caught. It only squirmed for half of a second before its circuitry was shut down by a single lethal peck on the neck. Without hesitance, the owl ripped the first chunk of meat its beak can pull. It chucked it down its throat. Suddenly, his owl ears sensed the approach of another predator. With its sharp claws, the owl salvaged its kill and took it away from where it was previously standing. It must save its dinner, despite that the predator coming was not hunting for its mouse.

The owl was not the only one who sensed the upcoming predator.

Nagayoshi's eyes snapped open. Somebody other than Kakuzu and Ryouken had infiltrated her detector circle. She stayed still, afraid that if she made a drastic movement, the thing that moved might go away and left her clueless of its true presence. She tried to comprehend the feeling. She tried to make sure whether it was an animal's presence or an animal. It was very close to their camp and Nagayoshi didn't want to take risks.

Silently she poked Kakuzu's arm. It surprised her that he immediately opened an eye after only one poke. It seemed like he was already awake ever since a few minutes ago—or even he did not sleep at all. Nagayoshi whispered as hushedly as possible, "Do you feel it?"

Kakuzu hummed a 'Hn' and replied, "It's near. Do you know what it is?"

"No. But I don't think it's an animal. It felt like a human. What should we do, Oniisan?"

"I'll watch out. You go back to sleep. I'll wake you up when there's something happening." answered Kakuzu.

Nagayoshi nodded and, after taking a careful glance at her surroundings, she closed her eyes. She opened one again, glancing slightly at her brother. He seemed to be sleeping but she couldn't tell. He was wide awake last time she checked and he looked like he was sleeping. Convinced with Kakuzu's façade, she finally shut her eyes to oblivion.

**|-oOo-|**

Stretching arms to the sky, he yawned, exposing two rows of improperly cared teeth. Ryouken ran his fingers through his unruly sienna hair with much physical power, making them even more unruly. He groaned as lethargy was still clinging like a koala on his eyelids. He tried to crack his eyes open, to greet his older partner and his sister. The abnormally happy smile returned to his face after six hours of disappearing behind the state of inactivity. He inhaled and… "Good morning, world! Let's face the day with a—eh?" Ryouken's smile vanished all of a sudden, finding no sign of the siblings. "Kakuzu-dono? Naga-pyon? Where is everybody?"

He stood up, scratching his butt in the process, and started to look around. Look behind the bushes, the trees, and even some rabbit burrows—although his logical side knew that those two couldn't possibly hide in the nest of bunnies. He called again, "Kakuzu! Nagayoshi! Seriously, where are you guys?!"

"Stop shouting." Kakuzu's bass voice broke the forestry silence. Nagayoshi was with him.

"Ah, there you are! Where have you guys been? You nearly scare me to death, you know!" Ryouken chirped happily.

"We were just going on some investigation. We felt someone's presence last night. It's only one person, but that person's presence made us uneasy already. Didn't you feel it?" Kakuzu asked back.

Ryouken rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I kinda feel like I heard someone walking, but I thought it was just a passerby so I shrugged it off and went back to sleep. What? Don't tell me you guys've been hunting down this dude for the whole night."

"We're not that stupid." Kakuzu rejoined sourly. "We've been hunting for an hour and a half."

"Ugh, speaking of diligent…"

"You're the one to wake up late, Baka. This is nine o' clock already!"

"Really…?"

Nagayoshi rolled her eyes as she listened to them arguing while packing their stuffs. Since it didn't took her a long time to pack up, once she finished, she announced loudly, "Oniisan, we're set." It was a simple and effective argument breaker. As long as Ryouken was together in their travels, she might need to do this often—unless something else distracted them again. Too bad she never gets the credit for it.

Kakuzu nodded and turned away. Nagayoshi followed his lead unquestioningly while his partner, although not complaining, had to make a remark about their 'early' departure. "This is a little bit unusual. We don't have breakfast?"

"Already had. You were still sleeping." Kakuzu answered quickly, more focused on the walking rather than on the talking.

"You didn't wake me up?" Ryouken scowled.

"I…sorta did." Nagayoshi answered this time. "I tripped and the whole cup noodle soup went splash to your clothes." She glanced meekly over her shoulders, to a staggered Ryouken. The Hyena Man quickly checked his clothes. They were indeed damp and the part where the dampness was sort of smelled like beef stew. "Like I said…" Nagayoshi repeated, "I sort of try to wake you up."

Ryouken hung his head low, sorrowfully listening to Nagayoshi profusely apologizing for her accidental mistake. He forgave her and, afterwards, he raised his head to half-glare at Kakuzu way in front of him. "You enjoyed it, didn't you?"

"What can I say? It was full of _win_." Kakuzu remarked. Even though he was not laughing or let alone snickering, anyone could tell that he was amused.

**|-oOo-|**

The trio had been walking fairly speedy for the day. It wasn't actually all of their initiative; Ryouken was the only person who had no idea why they were walking so fast. Ame was still far ahead—not even the stormy clouds were visible. They had finished their mission long time ago. Was that why Kakuzu and Nagayoshi preferred to walk so quickly?

Whatever the reason was (sorry, Ryouken, that can come later), the siblings kept moving forward as if a full-steamed train was dashing in full speed behind them or as if they were chased by Grim Reaper who was swinging his scythe madly at them. Wonderfully, the two ignored Ryouken's complaints and protests for the last six hours or so. Ryouken may have the patience to wait for them to finally speak and explain him what was going on, but even he has limits.

"Alright, this is _fucking_ RIDICULOUS!" Ryouken hollered, stopping in his tracks. His pair of hairy ivory claws was activated. This time was a success; Kakuzu and Nagayoshi, who were startled by his sudden vocal energy outburst, stopped and stared back at him. "We haven't stop walking—no—jumping from tree to tree for a goddamn six hours, man! Don't you guys feel anything?! Hunger, at least? Well, let me tell you something, I'm fucking hungry and fucking tired. I _need_ a rest, okay? Well, if you wanna leave me alone, then go! See if I care…" With that, grumpily, Ryouken took a seat on the tree he was standing on. He took out a bunch of snacks wrapped disorderly using a piece of handkerchief.

Nagayoshi turned to her brother, intrigued by Ryouken's once-in-a-lifetime fiery ranting. Kakuzu himself seemed to agree to Ryouken. He did silently admit that he and Nagayoshi were being too paranoid of this presence's pursuit. Before he let himself relax, he called, "Nagayoshi, can you still sense this person that had been stalking us at night?"

Nagayoshi sealed her eyes slowly, gaining the sufficient amount of concentration to her soul. She tried to feel anyone's presence as far as her limits can let her. She found none. Her heart thumped hard for one time upon thinking about what she felt last night. Maybe…it was not a person after all. Maybe it was a big animal—a stray dog. It can't be a jaguar, or can it? She remembered that she had to reconfirm to Kakuzu about her finding. She shook her head, "Nothing. Maybe it was sort of a false impression last night."

"I told you there's nothing!" Ryouken shouted.

Kakuzu sighed and nodded. "Fine. We rest here for an hour more or less."

"Oh, thank god!" Ryouken cried in gratitude. Opportunely, on the tree where Kakuzu was standing, there hang fruits that have the same size as pears. Kakuzu picked one at random and tossed it vehemently at Ryouken, making a _plonk_ noise as it landed on Ryouken's skull. "OW! What the hell?!"

"Stop shouting right now!"

The hand and the forehead of Nagayoshi collided with smack. She sat down and grabbed an apple. She almost took a bite if she didn't remember one thing. "Oh, I can't possibly eat something that has rubbed our dirty clothes, now can I? I'll be right back. I saw a river a few hundred meters from here."

She hopped down the tree and dashed at said direction to the river. Within less than a minute, her running figure diminished and disappeared from the men's eyesight. Kakuzu also took a seat, grabbed a bottle of water and imbibed the transparent content after opening his mask. As he refreshed himself, he heard Ryouken said, "You're not going to tell her to be careful or anything?"

Pulling his mask back up, Kakuzu casually answered, "She's trained, and washing an apple shouldn't take more than a minute. I'll know when something's not right. Anyway, I'm sure she can defend herself."

"Heh, you put high pride in her. I _hope_ you're not wrong."

Kakuzu's eyes slanted sternly. His tendrils itched with notion. "Baka…is there something you have to tell me?" he asked slowly, coldly, and ominously.

**|-oOo-|**

The water was running clean. The rocks from a nearby fall filtered the dirt from its wet content. Fresh water fish swam around, feeling safe that the salmon parade was not in season just yet. They dashed underwater when a small part of their territory were disturbed by a red object from high up plunged into the water, along with ten long holders to keep it from getting washed away by the stream.

Nagayoshi shivered and grinned at the cold sensation of water touching the skin on her hands. In this hot day in the middle of summer, having the skin to touch a cool substance like this felt like heaven. She rubbed her apple, still grinning with anticipation of eating the red fruit and feeling its watery meat sliding through her throat. She knew ever since she saw it in the stall in the supermarket that this apple was fresh. Years of worshipping apples made her brain stuffed with the good and bad apple knowledge. It was probably what the Akatsuki do not have; even Kakuzu didn't know as much as she did.

Lifting it up from the streaming water, she stared at the gleaming with liquid fruit with awe. Before she ate it, she first took a sip of the river's fresh water. A black blob of reflection came into sight across her. Slowly and carefully, she looked up, only to watch a black bear (she had no idea what the gender was) doing the same thing as she. Nagayoshi smiled at the big animal across her. She always dreamed of seeing a wild animal with her own eyes. Now a part of it had came true; it was hard to find a black bear. They always hide due to their fear of humans—savage, selfish humans.

The black bear held his head up; it stared eye-to-eye with Nagayoshi. The girl froze, waiting for the animal's first action. Its ears rotated to the side and then to the front. It seemed confused, Nagayoshi thought, and a confused animal never meant something good. It was suspicious of something and Nagayoshi was sure wasn't the bear was being suspicious of.

At the same time as the bear pumped its muscles and flee, Nagayoshi's electromagnetic sensory caught the presence of someone behind her. She was expecting Kakuzu, but strangely, it didn't feel like Kakuzu. Electromagnetic fields in the ninja world were mostly generated by low radiation of the chakra that flowed inside a ninja's body. When a ninja has more chakra than another ninja, it created a bigger and wider field and, hence, the radiation it created was more concrete. It explained why people sometimes get chickened out simply by feeling someone's chakra. That was what Nagayoshi felt and this amount of chakra was too different.

The amount was very small.

Kakuzu has five hearts. Thus his readings should be more evident. Due to the lack of chakra, Nagayoshi's alertness tingled. She turned around quickly, apple still in hand, and found herself being encountered by a man in a mask. _ANBU?_ she thought, _but the uniform's different. Who is this guy?_

She took a bite of her apple while keeping her eyes on the mysterious man standing a good four meters in front of her. She chewed, watching whether the man made a move or not, and when he did not, she gulped the apple down and asked, almost innocently, "Who are you?"

The man reached out his hand, as if he was offering to grab hers and brought her somewhere like an escort. "Come, Nagayoshi. Your country of origin awaits you." he said. His voice was silky and three tones lighter than Kakuzu's voice. Nagayoshi estimated that his age was somewhere around twenty or thirty.

"Last time I check, they try to enter my mind and brainwash me. No thanks. I'll stick with my brother, still." Nagayoshi answered. She took another bite, staring uninterestingly at the ANBU—or what it seemed to be an ANBU.

"You broke my youngest cousin's heart." he suddenly said.

"Do I even _know_ your cousin?" Nagayoshi asked in boredom.

"You were his first friend made during the first day of school. You first met in the shoe shop. He was the only boy in your group and quite popular with the ladies. Off-white hair and half-lidded soft eyes. That ring a bell?" the man spoke with much smoothness. Despite speaking of his brokenhearted cousin, he didn't seem to show any sign of sympathy.

Nagayoshi's jaw froze; an apple was half-digested inside. She stopped doing what she was doing for a good twenty seconds before she swallowed the meat of the apple, not bothering to savour the taste. "Uh…nope." she answered. "Don't ring any bell. Now tell me, Mister, why does Kumogakure send you to catch me and bring me back? I thought I'm a rogue ninja now."

"Indeed, you are, Nagayoshi. You are to be defeated, caught, and brought back as a prisoner. We decide to keep you alive only because you haven't done any crime." he said, still smoothly as ever.

"Huh…then you've missed the news, haven't you? I guess you haven't followed me and my brother for a long time now. Just so you know…" having her apple finished, Nagayoshi just threw the remaining uneaten middle of the apple to the nearest open spot. It was an organic trash and a new apple tree might spring up to life in the future. "…for the last two years, there are more or less fifteen people that I've nailed to the hell's floor. Sorry to disappoint you, this 'innocent' Nagayoshi isn't as innocent anymore. I bet your cute little cousin's heart might crack more, won't it?"

"Thanks to you, he doesn't have a heart anymore." the man said. Now his voice was colder. He stiffened his shoulders, bracing in a fighting stance.

"Well, what do you know…? Good ol' Masao Shiyokanu has a weak heart. I don't know being rejected could have an impact THAT big." Nagayoshi teased the man. She was pretty sure that, from the way he mentioned Masao, he cared deeply for the lack-of-emotion boy. As a confirmation of her correct guess, the man set a sturdier stance.

"You have become a true criminal, Nagayoshi." he hissed.

"Thank you. I'll need that."

The man roared and dashed at Nagayoshi in high speed. Nagayoshi immediately stopped fooling around and dodged at the upcoming fists and feet. She was fighting a lone ninja from Kumogakure. She had no idea why he wore a mask yet he did not wear ANBU's uniform. Only one thing that can make her certain: a tattoo on the back of the neck.

Nagayoshi pulled her baton, extended it and clashed metals with the man's kunai. It was a little risky for her to use the baton. The weapon was strong and impact-durable, but the danger lies when she coated the baton with chakra. According to Itachi, although the form of the chakra was nowhere near bubbly pattern anymore, the double-ended tip (which she still had to work on) made it vulnerable to precise type attacks, most especially those of the wind bases. Nagayoshi's solution was to prevent using the baton like she would with a knife.

Violently, she smashed it against the man's kunai until it broke into smidgens. With years training on physical attacks under the stone-fisted Kakuzu, it was no surprise that even a kid her age could generate such powerful force. The only people who could block her punches were people weighed more than eighty kilos. This man…probably around seventy.

She swerved the baton once more and intended to hit the man straight across the face, but he ducked on time. As his level lowered, Nagayoshi could finally see the back of his neck. Although subtly, but Nagayoshi could tell that there was indeed a tattoo on the back of his neck. That was enough to convince her who this man is. While she was distracted by the sight of the tattoo, the man's fingers jabbed at her wrist with which she held her baton. She winced and grunted; the baton dropped to the earth floor.

Something happened to her hand. The finger won't move no matter how hard her brain enslaved it to work. Grabbing the baton with another hand, she jumped back to retreat for a moment. She stared at her hand warily, wondering what might have happened to it. Before that, she said to the man, "You're…an Elite Hunter. I thought they're sending a team of four—my ex-classmates."

"They were retreated and I was the replacement. They haven't even entered the Chuunin examination. We are not stupid, Nagayoshi, to send three kids under the surveillance of only one adult and find a child surrounded by S-ranked criminals."

"Only you?"

The man nodded. "I'm an expert in ambushing and bringing rogues back without inflicting too much bodily damage. That is what I just do to your hand."

Nagayoshi stared at it again. He may have said it was not a bodily damage, but it felt like one, alright.

"I stopped the nerve functions, causing one's body to limp and paralyze temporarily. It's almost similar to the Hyuuga clan's technique. The difference was we don't block chakra as it still enables the user of chakra to move. You can say we're one level more lethal." He smirked under his mask, staring at Nagayoshi's bewildered expression. He prepared another stance, his legs gaining as much momentum as he can before using it to dash at the girl.

Nagayoshi swerved the baton but he easily evaded it and attacked her other wrist, making both of her hands useless. They both hung loosely on her sides. Her last resort was to run and look for Kakuzu and Ryouken. She knew the stakes of continuing fighting him alone with using only her feet. Yes, her kicks are just as strong as her punches, but she didn't want to risk having limp legs too. Unfortunately, the man needed not to aim at her legs to make her paralyzed. He simply jabbed three spots on Nagayoshi's spine, and since Nagayoshi was out of his hands' reach, he used acupuncture needles. With weak spine and dysfunctional hands, Nagayoshi unavoidably fell to the ground with a brusque crash. She tried to push herself with her feet, slithering on her belly like a snake. Yet, she was not a snake; hence she was easily caught by the legs. She groaned and grunted loudly to escape but all those were futile. The man stepped a foot on her back, effectively stopping her from squirming, though not whimpering and grunting.

"Give up, Nagayoshi. You're our prisoner now. If you submit yourself to the village, we may reclaim as our ninja and you can live just like how normal ninjas would. You can become an ANBU or be in the forensics team, you name it. With that talent of yours, I'm sure you'll be Jonin in no time." the man explained.

Following after a grunt, Nagayoshi answered, "Well, that's an intriguing offer but there are too many rules and codes of conduct. Freedom is something someone can only dream on. Of course, Oniisan has a leader too, but he hardly gives any rules. He gives instructions on the main basic lines but the rest, we get to decide. So…nope, no more ties with a village for me." Nagayoshi panted afterwards, tired of futilely moving her arms. "I really should have let you touch my hand…" she said, "That way I can kill you immediately on the spot."

The man chuckled darkly, pressing his feet to Nagayoshi's spine more that the girl had to grit her teeth to help her endure. "You're just a child, Nagayoshi. There's no way you can beat an Elite Hunter all by yourself, even when I don't know your little tricks."

"I can." a deep voice echoed right behind him. The man turned around briskly, startled that he did not sense the presence of this person far before he came. As he turned around, his masked face collided vehemently with a stone aimed at his nose. His face was nonetheless safe from harm, but not his mask, which shattered on one corner. The solid punch caused him to tumble away from Nagayoshi and landed on his feet with a little sway. He looked up and the first thing he saw of his attacker was his glowing murderous emerald eyes.

Nagayoshi, using her legs, managed to roll a little and see the towering figure of her savior and brother. She sighed slightly but was not entirely feeling safe yet. "Oniisan…" she muttered. She wanted to be by his side, but she couldn't, courtesy of the Elite Hunter's acupuncture technique. "Oniisan…" she called, louder this time. "That Elite Hunter…he can make you paralyzed with one jab of a finger. Be careful."

Kakuzu looked down to his poorly positioned sister. A fire flickered somewhere inside the eyes of his. It flickered, and it was about to get really big.

"Stand down, partner. This guy's from my village. Well, ex-village, actually." Ryouken interjected. He had his arms covered in bristle fur and bendable claws replaced his fingers. An insane, maniacal smile crossed upon his face. He cackled in such a high pitch that it resembled the meaning of his namesake. "I need some exercise, after all."

"Ryouken Tatsudao. So you are alive." the man muttered coldly. He turned around to face the maniacal criminal behind him. His shattered mask had fallen off, revealing some of his face which bore dark blue eyes and eyebrows so thin that it was almost inexistent.

Ryouken's eyes widened for a moment before an exaggeratedly wide smile came to his face. "Well, well, if it isn't Shiratake Shiyokanu. I recognize that brow-less eyes of yours." Ryouken cackled mockingly.

"You're still as insane as ever, Tatsudao."

"And I still can detect you even before Naga-pyon does. I know your chakra more than anybody, Shira-bouzu."

"Don't call me that, Tatsudao, or prepare to die." the man named Shiratake braced a kunai. Ryouken sneered and his claws clinked with one another.

"Scary as ever, eh, Shira-bouzu? You know, you could be popular with the ladies if you have that mask opened." the Hyena Man said playfully.

Having enough of Ryouken's incessant ramblings, Shiratake lunged forward, his kunai on a position ready to slice Ryouken's throat. Starting with a laugh, Ryouken dashed forward as well. While the two Kumogakure people clashed knife and claws, Kakuzu—whose rage had ceased by the time Ryouken interrupted—picked his limp sister in his arms and brought her somewhere far from the fighting ninjas. Once he thought they were far enough from the battle, he put his sister down and unzipped her black jacket. Tendrils crawled out his sleeves and slipped under Nagayoshi's undershirt.

"GAAAAH!! Oniisan, it tickles so badly!" Nagayoshi shouted and gritted her teeth. The tickling feeling turned into that of being bitten by a snake. "OOWW!! Now that hurts so goddamn much!" she shouted again.

"Deal with it. This is what acupuncture is supposed to feel like." Kakuzu, had expecting those reactions, replied calmly.

"I thought acupuncture uses needles, not tendrils!" she protested. However, she was simply ignored. At which point, she could feel her body was alive once more. She could straighten her back by herself.

Kakuzu moved his position and handled Nagayoshi's arms. The ones puncturing her wrists were the most painful. She had to grind her teeth together to sustain the pain. Kakuzu whispered words telling her to endure while he used his medical skills to reverse the effects of Shiratake's finger-jab attack. It took a few minutes before Nagayoshi's hands and arms could move normally again.

Nagayoshi whistled in relief. "Thanks, Oniisan."

Kakuzu nodded and said, "Let's check how that idiot was doing."

The siblings walked to where the fight was taking place. They had left Ryouken together with that Shiratake guy for more than twenty minutes; they wondered if the fight was over already or not. The answer seemed to be obvious. It was no matter how far they walked there were no sound of clashing metals or explosions whatsoever, meaning that the fight was over. The winner was yet to be discovered.

Nagayoshi then could smell the pungent scent of blood. Her heart thumped violently against her chest. She bit her lower lip, hoping for not to see a mutilated body. She didn't want to have nightmares again. She cursed herself afterwards. It had been months since she met Katana Inuzuka, but she hasn't get used to seeing extreme blood. The view became visible after another few steps and there, Kakuzu and Nagayoshi could see end result of the fight between two Kumogakure people. Nagayoshi sighed a little.

Held by the neck, with red juice flowing freely from his mouth, was a powerless Shiratake. His right wrist seemed to be broken. Standing arrogantly with large sword cut from his shoulder to his chest was the winner, Ryouken. Kakuzu looked around and found no sword that might have possibly caused that large wound on Ryouken's body. _Maybe it was a scroll-summoned weapon_, Kakuzu speculated silently as he watched Shiratake's body being dropped and squirmed painfully on the ground. His green eyes expanded a few millimeters; he was not dead yet.

"Why hasn't he died?" Kakuzu interrogated snappily, though his eyes was not as menacing as his voice.

"I figured that maybe Naga-pyon might have something to say to her village. Well, this dying little mouse here can be the pigeon." Ryouken answered blithely, poking Shiratake on the side with his foot.

"Thank you, Ryouken." Nagayoshi said, stepping forward. The unruly-looking man grinned and saluted at her. She stopped her Shiratake's face who glanced up to meet her gaze. Her serious gaze. Without waiting for Shiratake to say anything, she immediately said, "Tell this to those people who were my friends back in the village: Nagayoshi had killed people more than they've imagined. She will not come back to the village and she will not hesitate to take down people who, in the future, might come after her. She is a traitor and she's proud for it."

Ryouken whistled in awe of Nagayoshi's mean words towards her own village where she was raised. Kakuzu too, although he did not visually show it, was quite proud with what Nagayoshi stated. She should know that by saying that the consequences were getting worse for her. She must know that by confirming her betrayal to her village she can't ever return to that very same place—unless she got captured. But Kakuzu knew that all along. Nagayoshi had given her heart to him—in a siblinghood way, of course.

Shiratake growled at the girl menacingly, yet Nagayoshi was unfazed by them. "When I get back to Kumo, I will demand for an execution after your capture! Nobody loves you anymore! You are like a demon—even worse than those Bijuus! You—and you, Tatsudao—shall be terminated!"

Ryouken clamped his ears shut and brutally smashed his foot on Shiratake's head. "Your threats hurt my ear, dude. Shut up a little." The man with messy guise turned to the androgynous girl with a wide smile. "Don't you agree, Naga-pyon, that native Kumo are noisy bunch?" He swung his arm to encircle Nagayoshi's shoulders before a dark-skinned man (though lighter-toned than him) slapped his arm away.

"Speak to yourself, Baka. Aren't you a native too?" Kakuzu retorted acidly. With a little harshness, he grabbed Nagayoshi's upper arm and dragged her away, continuing their journey. Behind him, the dark-skinned man grimaced.

* * *

**I have nothing to say regarding this chapter. Hmm…except the relevance between electromagnetic fields and chakra…maybe. That's a major sci-fi, don't you think? And Nagayoshi sounds like Sasuke a lot at one point. OMG… -_-; Is Kakuzu going to say "You lack hatred." to Nagayoshi?!?! Don't pull my leg!!!**

**Shiratake is written in 'white tiger'. Shiyokanu is written in 'red crest'.**

_Next: The reason why Ryouken looks so stupid and why he's a criminal._


	20. The Rage of Being Joyful

**Chapter 19: The Rage of Being Joyful**

"Whoopla!" Ryouken shouted as his arms did their job in flinging Shiratake's heavily rope-cuffed body to a short rock-less slope. They watched solemnly (in Ryouken's case: amusingly) as the body of the man tumbled down the slope. "Whoo! Roll like a rum barrel, Bouzu!!" the Hyena Man shouted ecstatically and laughed at his ex-comrade's suffering.

"Let's move. We're wasting our time if we stand around here." Kakuzu said, beginning to walk away from the drop zone. Nagayoshi followed immediately afterwards. "I said move." Kakuzu repeated, knowing that Ryouken was still watching Shiratake rolling around on the dirt.

"Ah, come on, Kakuzu! It's fun!" Ryouken protested.

Spinning brusquely, startling Nagayoshi with it, Kakuzu shot a sizzling glare at his maniacal partner. The red of his sclera intensified. "I don't care if it's fun or what! If we get caught by his teammates we're toast!"

"You can kick their asses easily, can't you?" Ryouken kept asking, unfazed by Kakuzu's roar. "Anyway, I thought you love to kill people."

"Only when they produce money." Kakuzu replied sourly before turning around again and continued walking. Nagayoshi was there, standing passively as she had not the power to really contain Kakuzu's anger. She sighed and followed silently. She could feel it, from the way he stomped, that he wasn't in a good mood.

**|-oOo-|**

"Oniisan," Nagayoshi called. Half-heartedly, Kakuzu turned his head slightly. "There's a bird with weird eyes." she said, pointing towards a eucalyptus tree.

That made Kakuzu turned around fully and followed where Nagayoshi's finger was pointing to. Indeed, there was a bird, and interestingly, the bird had a pair of eyes that only one person in the world that has them. Kakuzu gazed at the bird for a moment before he was distracted by Ryouken saying:

"What's Pein-sama's messenger bird doing here?"

"Messenger bird?" Nagayoshi asked.

"He uses it a lot to send orders while we haven't got back to the base yet. I guess that means we have more work to do." Kakuzu answered.

Since the three of them had realized its presence, the bird opened its wing and took a short flight towards the closest member. That closest member happened to be Ryouken. The younger of the men winced as the bird's sharp talons gripped onto his shoulder blades tightly. He could practically feel the claws sinking through his cloak. He whimpered and squeaked, "Kakuzu-dono, take the scroll. Take the scroll!"

Kakuzu sighed exasperatedly. "You're pathetic." he mumbled as he coolly walked towards the bird and withdrew the scroll secured on its back. The bird vanished in a puff of smoke after the rolled parchment was completely removed from the sheath. Ryouken coughed and fanned away the smoke. Disregarding his partner and untroubled by the smoke, Kakuzu opened the scroll. A message was written inside and a different legal-sized paper attachment fell. Nagayoshi caught it on time before the attachment touched the earth. While her brother read the scroll, she read the attachment.

Before long, Kakuzu handed the scroll to Ryouken who had no interest in it and destroyed it. Destroying messages after reading was an essential protocol every time Pein sent a scroll of message. It was to avoid anyone from getting a piece of clue about Akatsuki's unknown face. "What does Leader have for us?"

"Assassination—as always. We kill, show it to client, and get paid." Kakuzu sighed. "Sometimes, I wonder if there is something else other than assassination that Akatsuki can offer."

"Hey, assassination is fun!" Ryouken replied, flailing his arms in the air.

"Nagayoshi, who's our target?" Kakuzu asked his sister who, by that time, had finished reading the data attached with the now destroyed message. She handed the long paper to him.

"Some guy named Yato, 31 years old. There's not much information other than the obvious ones." Nagayoshi said. "Oh, and he's not a bounty." she added.

There was a low growl coming from underneath Kakuzu's black piece of cloth covering his mouth. Nagayoshi grimaced—it seemed like today was not a perfect day for Kakuzu, neither it was for her. "And we don't know what he's capable of." Kakuzu grumbled, handing the piece of attachment to Ryouken. "I really should complain to Leader. How are we supposed to know what this guy's capable of?"

"Well, I guess you're right." Nagayoshi said.

"At least he tells where this guy is." Ryouken interjected. Kakuzu and Nagayoshi turned; the girl had a confused look, while her brother looked almost like skeptical. "There's a name of a small town. I guess he lives there."

Kakuzu raised an eyebrow. "For once, you use your brain for good, Baka." He sat down somewhere, leaning against a tree and pulled out his map. He asked for the name of the town told by Ryouken and his eyes quickly began to find the name on his map. It didn't took him long to find it. "Aha! What do you know; it's just a couple of miles south-east from where we are right now. C'mon, we got work to do."

While he and his sister were ready to trek across the woods again, his partner cleared his throat in a purposed manner. "Shouldn't you say 'thank you' to me, Kakuzu-dono?" he asked, grinning widely with expectance.

"Move." Kakuzu commanded coldly.

"Damn, you're a total meany!"

**|-oOo-|**

"What's up with men and bars?" Nagayoshi asked, her arms were crossed in front of her chest. "This is unfair." she puffed one side of her cheeks.

"Don't blame me for you being underage. Don't worry, you'll be able to get in someday." Kakuzu said, ruffling Nagayoshi's hair, much to her dismay. Ryouken giggled at her irritated expression.

Nagayoshi yanked her head away from Kakuzu's darker and bigger hand only to have her eyes expanding dramatically and exclaimed, "YAY!" The two men blinked, surprised as why she suddenly reacted so. "There's our target on one o'clock!" Nagayoshi exclaimed.

Kakuzu turned and, indeed, Nagayoshi was right. The man named Yato was exiting the bar, followed by a few people bruised and swollen crawling out of the bar. They groaned and whimpered in pain. The two men and the girl watching from afar raised their eyebrows simultaneously. The man Yato then looked around, straightened his jacket and walked away.

"What do we do now, Oniisan?" Nagayoshi asked.

"We get him right now." her brother replied almost immediately. He began to move his legs, marching towards the man with long dark brown hair. His partner unquestioningly followed him, an expectant grin adorned on his flexible face muscles. On the other hand, the only female of the trio did not look so optimistic with her brother's decision.

The two men walked on a rather fast pace, hunting down their long-haired target hungrily. Just a few yards behind the guy named Yato, Kakuzu muttered harshly in a murmuring manner. "Ryouken," he called. There was no need of extending his commands; only in times like this did Kakuzu and Ryouken stopped calling names and actually worked as a team.

"Osu!" Ryouken replied, grinning even wider. He slammed his hands together, unleashing his claws and furry arms. "I'm ready." he said, sneering at the image of having Yato's lifeless body in his hands.

"On my command." The oldest of the Akatsuki stopped in his tracks, crossed his arms in front of him, letting the threads to unwind and his arms soon rocketed at the man walking in front of them. With ease, he captured the long-haired man. He squirmed in his seize, turning around to glare fiercely. Kakuzu tightened his tendrils around his skinny stature. "Now!!" he shouted at his partner.

"It's slicing time, bitch!" Ryouken shouted ecstatically, swinging his arms with full of force and vim. His smile expanded looking Yato's panicked expression right before he slashed his claws on his shoulders and down to his pelvis. Blood spurted from the massive wound, splashing onto Ryouken's cheeks and furry arms. He cackled victoriously, "Man! That felt almost like nothing! You die too easy, man."

"No need to taunt the dead, Baka. Let's bring this guy back where he's wanted and head back to base." Kakuzu said. He was about to loosen his tendrils when Nagayoshi brusquely grabbed his arm. He looked at her curiously; she glowered at the dead man far in front of the two them. He wondered why and that was when Nagayoshi said:

"He's not dead yet." Nagayoshi said flatly.

"Huh?"

"He's not dead yet. Oniisan, don't let him go! Squeeze him! Squeeze him!" Nagayoshi gripped Kakuzu's arm tighter.

Ryouken looked back at the commotion behind him. It was then where he heard a very faint yet close "_Sanseigetsu._" Within milliseconds, there were sizzling noises and Ryouken's face and arms were burning. They were dreadfully painful that he screamed in agony.

"My face! It's burning!!!" he shouted frantically, transformed hands tried to wipe his face in vain.

"Ryouken, what's the matter?" Kakuzu asked bewilderedly. His tendrils suddenly loosened by itself, much to his mystification. He pulled them back and saw that the ends of them were melted. Both Kakuzu and Nagayoshi stared at them with much perplexity. Kakuzu heard a surge of liquid coming from right in front of him. Rapidly, he lunged aside, evading and bringing Nagayoshi tumbling with him as he pulled her down. Luckily, he was faster than the running jet of…

"Is that…blood?" Nagayoshi asked in terror.

"I'm afraid so." Kakuzu answered. "Acidic blood." he added. He rose from his reclining position, helping Nagayoshi up as he did so. "Be careful. You don't want to suffer like that idiot right there." he warned his sister. She nodded obediently. "I'll move first. When I give you my signal, shoot him."

"Gotcha."

With speed of a storm wind, Kakuzu dashed towards Yato. The man was standing with much effort, but he seemed to be very much alive either. Kakuzu had no explanation right now; all he had to do was to kill that man. He solidified his entire body and jumped high, preparing to give a heel kick from above. Swiftly, Yato blocked his hydraulic powered leg with an object that looked like a big sword. Only it was red, instead on black and silver like normal blades. Kakuzu squinted; Yato grinned.

With a roar, Yato swung his blade upwards. Since he was in mid-air, Kakuzu was almost defenseless, that was why he solidified his body in the first place. The blade's sharp tip slashed harmlessly onto the exposed skin of his arm. However, that was not even half of Yato's collection of tricks. Again, with a grin, he muttered, "_Tokasu!_" The once solid red blade thawed and splat on Kakuzu's arm. It sizzled and despite the hardness of his skin, Kakuzu could feel the scorching sensation seeping into his flesh. He shouted.

"Oniisan!" Nagayoshi screeched.

"Maybe next time, you would want to learn about your opponent first, hunter. It could be quite deadly, you see. Especially…that your opponent is me." Yato said coldly at the two Akatsuki men in pain. He heard rumble of a lightning and looked up to see grey-black clouds gathering up above him. The rumble became louder and the lightning was shooting towards him—from the side.

Yato jumped away, letting a condensed streak of lightning bolts passed through, wreaking damage to the trees. In shock, he whipped his head to find the source. Far away from him, a kid, a boy, he thought, had his left hand glowing brightly. It was no question that that kid was the cause of that streak of lightning bolts. He thrust his arm towards Nagayoshi (which he still thought as a boy) and a jet of running blood shot at the androgyny.

Knowing that the blood was harmful to her skin, Nagayoshi evaded from it in a speed of a lightning. Using the technique she often used against Kisame during their occasional spars, she tried to slow down the long-haired man. Before she reached him, she prepared her baton, extended it to its fullest length, and swerved it aggressively at the man's head. It worked; the baton slammed powerfully at the man that he staggered to keep on his footing and had to grab his head in order to keep it intact.

She flowed some of her chakra into the alloy body of the baton and setting it to a battle stance. She glanced at her brother on her far right. "Oniisan, you okay?" she asked worriedly.

Kakuzu was just beginning to stand. "I'm fine. Just keep your eyes on him. He's coming!" he cried.

Nagayoshi focused on her opponent again who was dashing rapidly at her. He swung the once again solid red sword with much hostility. Nagayoshi blocked it with her chakra-coated baton and before he melted the sword into acidic blood again, she thrust her leg at his stomach. Luckily, he was close enough for her legs to reach. Although she was growing fast, her legs were not yet as long as most Akatsuki. Yato hacked at the impact right on his guts, saliva spluttered out of his mouth and he held his stomach.

"Damn brat!" he spat angrily; his eyes bloodshot and his teeth were grinding at each other. Nagayoshi was unfazed, but she was ready for his next attack. She waited.

A droplet of rain landed on the top of her head. At first, she ignored it, until the siblings of the droplet came pouring excessively. She hissed; the water made her clothes wet save for her black jacket. It was hard to move with wet pants and slippery hands. Therefore, she coated her hands and feet with chakra, so she didn't have to slip and fall or lose the hold of her baton. At the same time, Yato was feeling more than just irritated of the rain. He loathed it. Save for his sword, the source of the creation of his sword were flowing with the water and poured over his body. Meanwhile, the sizzling pain on Kakuzu's arm ceased in a moderate speed as rain water poured on his arm. The similar thing occurred to his partner too.

"I see." Kakuzu said with a newfound realization in his voice. "Now I get it why you hate the rain." he said to Yato who turned to him fiercely. "Water is your weakness. It cleanses the blood, getting rid of its red color and also neutralizes the acid in it. Without the acid, you can't give someone a slow and painful torture." Inside his mask, he smirked devilishly. The glint in his eyes hinted Yato his optimism. "Looks like the weather's on our side."

"Fuck, man, it hurts a lot." Ryouked growled, rubbing his face. It was not damaged to the meat and muscle, but it already gave some distinctive markings on his face. "You make my face ugly!"

"Your face is always ugly, Baka." Kakuzu rolled his eyes. In return, he received a deep scowl.

Yato snarled, "No matter! I can still kill you both. Start with the boy…"

"What boy?"

Before he realized who said boy was, Yato had already sprinted towards Nagayoshi, swinging his sword madly with intention to behead the androgyny. Nagayoshi managed to block the sword from her neck, but it slipped right through and pierced her upper arm. The sword did not melt, yet it still has its acidic property in it. Feeling the sizzling pain seeping into her flesh, she screamed painfully and fell to her knees.

"Nagayoshi!" Kakuzu shouted.

Yato perked his eyebrows and poked the doubled over Nagayoshi with his toes. "What's this? You scream like a little girl." he taunted her. To his surprise, she raised her arm that held the chakra-baton and touched the tip of the alloy rod to wrist.

"That's because I _am_ a girl." Nagayoshi retorted weakly.

Thunder crashed, the sky was inhabited with blinding lights, flashing here and there. One of them all flashed and crashed above the heads of Yato and Nagayoshi. The hand of the huge lightning strike down to the good earth and burned a certain spot with a deathly one terawatt surge of electricity. The unfortunate spot to get electrocuted was the exact spot where the skinny man with long hair was standing.

Nagayoshi shut her eyes, while her brother and his partner shielded their eyes with their arm to prevent the magnificently bright beam from blinding their eyes permanently. Yato did not need to shut nor open them for he was the sacrificial goat for the hand of the lightning. A sharp, shrill caterwaul acted as a finale to his life's stage. In a matter of seconds, the bright light disappeared dramatically, leaving a buzzed Yato motionless on the puddle ground.

Kakuzu and Ryouken removed their arm, taking a hesitant glance at the dead body on their far front. Nagayoshi panted, her hands trembled horribly as much as her consciousness failing. Her head dropped to the wet ground with a splash, she closed her eyes. Her world dimmed, silenced, and numbed. Not even a frantic calling of her name could wake her up.

**|-oOo-|**

The sky was painted in a dark purple tint. Still black clouds gathered around and mingled with the white clouds. Were the black clouds truly clouds? Clouds didn't stay still; there were more wind on the sky than on ground. It was strange, thought Nagayoshi.

She found herself lying down under the dark shades of trees—which she initially thought were black clouds. She tried to push herself up but when she felt a sting on her right upper arm, she dropped back, making a 'bump' noise against the soil. She winced and hissed. At which point, a big hand slipped underneath her head and helped her up.

"Don't push yourself." said Kakuzu.

"Oniisan…" Nagayoshi called weakly. "What happened?"

"You passed out after defeating that Yato guy with acidic blood. You're out for a whole fourteen hours."

"I slept that long?"

"Actually, I was expecting you to sleep longer. You seem to really worn yourself out." he explained, patting her head softly. "And your jacket." he added, fiddling with the hood of Nagayoshi's jacket.

"Oh…" Nagayoshi replied spiritlessly. "Damn it, I like this jacket." she mumbled, looking at the sleeves whose edges were torn and scorched.

"Well, there's nothing you can do. It was your fault too, anyways." he answered. Suddenly, Kakuzu blinked. He did it again when he remembered the roots of how it became Nagayoshi's fault in the first place that her jacket got worn out. "You did it again." he added, his voice almost hushed.

"Did again what?" asked Nagayoshi, confused at Kakuzu's sudden stiffness.

"You called the lightning again—like you used to—only this time, it really kills. How did you do that?" Kakuzu asked.

Nagayoshi shook her head. "I don't know. It just happened."

"What do you mean it just happened? From what I observed, that lightning should have zapped the tree beside you instead of that guy. That tree was tall, that guy was a Lilliput amongst those trees. There's no way a natural lightning zapped the ground instead of high objects. Moreover, it didn't happen just once—it happened twice!"

"I seriously don't know, Oniisan!" Nagayoshi retorted. "Like I said, it just happened. My baton touched his arm and then…'boom!' I can't explain it either."

"Could it be your baton and your chakra called it?"

"If it is, then half of Amegakure should have leveled to the ground long time ago."

"Hmm…you've the point."

"Where's Ryouken?" she asked, after realizing that her surroundings were strangely quieter than usual.

"He went to hand in the guy to the client. He should be back by now. It had been hours." answered Kakuzu.

"He hands in the guy early in the morning? I even doubt Konan had got up from the bed at this time."

"He insisted. For once, he's doing something good other than rambling. Still…he really should be back by now." Kakuzu stood, looking at his surrounding to find any signs of an unruly dark-skinned man. "I'll go search for him. Don't worry, I won't be far away."

"I can take care of myself." Nagayoshi rebelled.

Kakuzu scowled before he slowly stepped away to find his partner. Half a minute Nagayoshi waited and Kakuzu's presence was getting hard for her to read. She struggled to stand, using her good left arm to sustain her rising weight. She searched for her bag. There was an apple or two inside it and she will need its nutrition to help her live through the day.

"Geez, I thought he'd never leave." a tenor voice broke through the forestry silence as Nagayoshi rummaged the insides of her travelling bag. She whipped her head in surprise of finding the so-called Hyena Man was actually standing not very far from her. As she stared at her, he stepped out of the shade.

"Ryouken? Damnit, Ryouken, Oniisan was looking for you. You should go after him, tell him you're back already." Nagayoshi scolded the fellow ex-Kumo ninja.

"Nah, he'll find me later. I like to see his angry face." Ryouken said smoothly. He stepped closer towards the girl and he didn't stop walking that Nagayoshi had to inch back. His constantly smiling face started to freak her out.

"How come I didn't sense you if you're standing so close?" Nagayoshi asked, stammering. Ryouken stopped, to her relief, and his arms were coated by brown fur.

"This is why." he answered, smiling deviously. "My fur blurred your detector sensory, making you think I'm some sort of an animal lurking in the forest. I'm pretty sure you actually have felt my presence ever since you wake up, haven't you?"

Nagayoshi frowned. "I thought you were a bear." she muttered crossly.

"Exactly! Brilliant, isn't it?" He walked closer again and Nagayoshi had to back away until she was stopped by a tree. She cursed silently and before she could slip through the side, she was boxed in by the partner of her brother. She eyed him warily. "What's the matter, Naga-pyon? Never been with other man than your brother before?"

"Who said so? I've been alone with Kisame, Erai, and Itachi." Nagayoshi defended herself, pulling a half-hearted smile. She kept in mind not to sound weak and harmless. She had to stay strong; she said herself that she can take care of herself.

"That's because they're your friends." There was a foxy smirk on his face, and Nagayoshi somehow hated that.

"Well…" Nagayoshi stammered; her eyes looking at the tree root below her, contemplating whether to say it or not. "Then…let's be friends…?" Mentally, she hit herself with her baton. That was a stupid question. God knows what this man had in mind.

Ryouken cackled, very much like his namesake. His hand pulled back to rummage on his back pocket. His smile widened at the same time as Nagayoshi's dropped slightly. "Okay." he said. "This is how I treat my friends." He lifted Nagayoshi's right hand, resting the back of her palm against the bark of the tree behind her, slowly and ineloquently…before stabbing it with a kunai straight through the palm. A fairly much part of the kunai stuck deep into the tree's inner meat. Automatically to the stabbing, Nagayoshi bawled in pain. Not wanting for anyone to hear her screaming, Ryouken shoved his arm over her mouth, letting the girl bite his arm through the seams of his Akatsuki cloak. He whispered a number of 'sshh' sound while his lips hovered over one of her eyelids. He then held up Nagayoshi's left hand with his other free hand over the long sleeve of her worn out jacket, making sure not to make any skin contact. "This is how I treat my friends, most especially young girls like you."

Nagayoshi growled menacingly, despite the awfully stinging pain on her right palm. In fact, the pain and the warm trickle of her blood on her arm made her senses snapped open. With Ryouken removed his arm from her mouth, she could shout or even better, scream if only his face wasn't so uncomfortably close to hers. She would love to blast this guy off with _Raihou_, but again, the distance was too close that she could cause serious life-threatening damage to herself. Her last effort was to keep generating electricity from her body.

A triumphant cackle reverberated from the Hyena Man's throat. Nagayoshi growled at his display of amusement. "I'm not as stupid as you think, little girl. I know enough that you can't kill anybody without skin contact or through electricity conductor. If you think all I do was toying with Kakuzu and ignoring the world around me, you're wrong, cupcake." His hand that previously used to shut Nagayoshi's mouth slid down to her thigh. He licked the upper row of his teeth with a huge anticipation as his hand crawled to the inner of her thigh.

Her eyes shot at him sharply and she squirmed to get free, despite the sting on her hand. "What are you going to do, you perverted bastard?! I swear I'm going to fry your brain to the core!" she bellowed at him. However, her threats proved to be futile. The crazy Ryouken just laughed maniacally and his face inched dangerously closer. She threw her face aside.

"Interesting…. I think this is the first time I handled a feisty girl like you. Nobody threatened at me before. Heh, you need to be…_punished_." With that said, Ryouken clutched where Nagayoshi's legs meet. The girl grunted and then groaned. He may not have touched it directly to the skin, but it was still breaking the laws of privacy. As he loosened his fingers, Nagayoshi's eyes turned fiery, mad with killing intentions.

"You…you sick bastard! Go to hell!" Nagayoshi snarled. She thrust frontward, threatening to bite Ryouken's nose off. The hand stuck to the kunai shifted, agitating her already serious wound. She didn't care about it as long as she didn't have to be treated like a doll.

He clutched her privacy again, bringing more groans out of her mouth. He chuckled amusedly while resisting not caressing her face with his mouth. "This is so much fun!" he laughed psychopathically. "The feistiest prey makes the most beautiful sound! Hahaha! I might as well—"

"Let. Her. Go." the deep bass voice hummed minatorially. The jade eyes swimming in red narrowed, shooting stern lasers and irascible heat vision.

Ryouken's grin vanished for a moment before a smirk replaced it. "What, Kakuzu? Can't I know your sister a little deeper?" His fingers twitched a little. Nagayoshi noticed the slight movement and gritted her teeth.

Kakuzu's hand darkened and morphed to have a rocky feature. Without a single threat of mercy, he back-slapped Ryouken's head using that rock-hard hand of his, sending him rolling on the ground. Hounding on his uncouth partner, Kakuzu hopped and his knees pressed severely onto his ribs. He grappled Ryouken's collar and with another hand, he bludgeoned the Hyena Man. He hit five times—ten—twenty—forty. Ryouken lost two molar teeth and one incisor from his dear gums. His nose began to crook like that of a witch. His cheeks and eyes were swollen and his jaws were in the brink of losing. Yet, he was still cackling.

It suddenly and immediately stopped. Out of the blue, Kakuzu witnessed the other side of Ryouken that it made him stop swinging his fist and stared at him with eyes wide. This side…it did not cackle let alone giggle or smile at all. If truth be told, he was glaring daggers at the oldest of the Akatsuki. With Kakuzu's barrage of punches ceased, Ryouken could launch his own rain of punch. At the first hit, he sent Kakuzu toppling to his back and his masked-face was flooded with fist hammering at him.

"It's all your fault!" Ryouken bellowed furiously, propelling another punch to Kakuzu's face. "You killed him! He did nothing but respect you, but you killed him! I'm sick of your selfishness, you crooked fogey bastard!" he roared as he continued bludgeoning the bounty hunter.

Kakuzu blocked the next upcoming punch and kicked Ryouken's stomach with his knee. With Ryouken off from his body, he stood up. The used-to-be-laughing partner lunged at him. Swiftly, Kakuzu held his head and flung him aside. Before he could rise and attack him, Kakuzu gripped his neck and pinned him against a tree, on the opposite side of Nagayoshi's tree. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about." Kakuzu growled irately. He added pressure to his hand and arm when Ryouken began to struggle.

"You old bastard!" Ryouken growled back. "You killed my brother! He was a member too, remember?"

Kakuzu's eyes expanded, snapping into focus. He slanted them again, saying, "I didn't kill him."

"Liar! You big fat fucking liar! I saw it!" Ryouken rebelled.

"I thought you let it go already! You forgave me!"

"I never forgave you—not even for just one second! My revenge and my hatred for you are forever nesting inside my heart! Now it's only fair if I can at least hurt your sister!" he spat furiously at the older ninja.

At the mention of Nagayoshi, Kakuzu's eyes sharpened more. Coarsely, he gripped his neck tighter, possibly leaving finger marks on his neck. "Leave her alone! She has nothing to do with this!"

"YES, SHE DOES!!!" Ryouken shouted. A flock of birds took a hasty flight away from the trees, frightened by the vocal explosion. "That little whore has something to do with everything ever since she has ties with you. You killed my brother, then I shall kill your precious little strumpet to even our score!"

Kakuzu's temperature risen to the boiling point. His killing instincts had been switched on ever since he saw Ryouken done those loutish acts to his sister minutes ago. His eyebrow muscles weighed upon his upper eyelids heavily; the red tint of his sclera flashed with the rush of blood to his head. Through gritted teeth, he growled, "If you love your brother so much, why not join him?"

Ryouken gasped; eyes dilating.

And there was a crack,

Between his chin and collarbone.

Kakuzu dropped the dead body, panting and heaving. He stood with one foot on Ryouken's abdomen. He just stared at him, disregarding a big drop of sweat rolling on his face. He stared at his hands, stained in human tomato juice.

Nagayoshi witnessed her brother's mercilessness from where she her hand was still stabbed on to. Not until the intensity was over did she remember the kunai on her hand was still attached. With one hand free, she pulled it out. The sudden movement triggered the longstanding pain. She winced and grunted when the blade had completely been removed. She fell to her knees and threw the kunai away.

Kakuzu's senses returned as he heard the metal clanking against the soil. He turned briskly towards his sister and rushed to her side. He knelt before her, handling the injured hand in both of his. "You're hurt." he said; small traces of coldness still remained. With a finger, he stroked the end of the wound, causing Nagayoshi to wince. "It needs some sewing."

"Umh…sure." Nagayoshi grunted. She stayed silent when her brother stood to take their first medical kit from the bag. First, Kakuzu pulled out the alcohol and soaked it on a cotton ball. Gently, he dabbed the alcohol onto the wound. Nagayoshi whimpered and squeaked as the alcohol did its work killing bacteria from her wound. Kakuzu turned her hand upside down, since the wound reached the other side of it, and repeated the same thing. He pulled out a black thread and a needle. Easily, he slipped the thread into the hole of the needle and proceeded immediately to sewing Nagayoshi's wound close on both sides.

This wasn't Nagayoshi's first sewing. Around a year ago, she also had a wound stitched on her shoulder. It was no pretty memory and so was this one. Kakuzu speechlessly sewed the wound and in an experienced rhythm too. This was rather unusual for the girl, since Kakuzu would usually snap at her after a few whimpers which he claimed to be annoying and distracting. He was too silent this time, like he had lost the use of speaking—like Erai. However, Nagayoshi understood why. She will behave today; she wouldn't want to worsen Kakuzu's mood.

"Done." his heavy voice hummed at last. He had wrapped bandages over the wound to protect it from getting contact directly with objects. He shifted his position from kneeling before Nagayoshi into leaning his back against a tree beside her. He sighed; his hand clutched his chest. He looked as if he had been enduring some kind of heart attack. Maybe he did.

"Oniisan, are you alright?" Nagayoshi asked meekly, afraid that he was still lingering in the house of anger.

Kakuzu glanced shortly at her. "I'm okay." he replied.

"You got punched quite a lot there." Nagayoshi added, her left hand reached for his mask. He gripped her hand quite roughly.

"I said I'm okay."

"Alright…" Nagayoshi squeaked. She adjusted her sitting position; her left upper arm touched Kakuzu's right upper arm. There was then a long silence between the siblings. Although Nagayoshi wasn't supposed to break this silence, she felt like she had to. Thus, she muttered, "Um…thank you."

Kakuzu bended a knee and rest his adjacent arm on top of it. "Don't mention it." he replied shortly.

Nagayoshi kept trying to make a conversation. "Was it true what he said? That you killed his brother?" she asked carefully. She was ready to flee in case his brother went into another tantrum. Luckily, she didn't have to.

"It was a misunderstanding. It is true that my tendrils ended his life, but his brother asked for it. He sacrificed himself for the success of our mission." Kakuzu answered somberly. As of now, Nagayoshi could see that he had relaxed.

"Oh, I see." Nagayoshi nodded thoughtfully.

"His brother was my partner before him. Nineteen years ago, there was a duo of brothers called the Claws and Talons Brothers. Ryouken was the oldest and the leader. The younger ones killed numerous people while Ryouken did not just kill…" Kakuzu narrowed his eyes, gazing at a hollow space between two roots of a tree. "…he raped kids and teenagers."

Nagayoshi visibly gasped and gaped. Kakuzu continued, "That is why I always tried to keep him away from you. To him, you're a delicious prey. If I wasn't your brother, he would have raped you sooner."

"Whew, I'm lucky, then." Nagayoshi said, smiling wryly at Kakuzu.

"I'm still surprised though." Kakuzu added. Nagayoshi stared at him wonderingly. "I never knew he still held a heavy grudge against me for what happened to his brother. I thought he really had let it go." Kakuzu put his forehead on his hand, sighing. Nagayoshi turned sober and leaned against her brother, an arm encircled Kakuzu's.

"We should go back to the base."

In the darkness of the forest, a yellow eye observed them both.

* * *

**0w0 –This is certainly not a happy chapter. Misuse of blood, child rape foreplay, and merciless murder of a partner. I think I should crank this story up to M =__=;. Although there'll be no excessive blood for the upcoming few chapters…I guess… (fails) I feel kind of sorry to kill Ryouken; we haven't seen his full capability and he seemed to be quite funny to bash with. Kakuzu's gonna get really lonely…**

**Just before I go, I just want to say that Ryouken's hyena fur thing can cover his whole body, which explains more of how Nagayoshi couldn't sense him and made her think he's a bear.**

_Next: Back in the base. Pein had something to say to Kakuzu, and it's not going to be a friendly chat._


	21. Rottweiler On a Leash

**Chapter 20: Rottweiler on a Leash**

"Whatever happened to your hand?" Kisame queried as soon as Kakuzu and Nagayoshi got into the base tower of Akatsuki. The blue ninja rushed to the shorter ninja and studied her bandaged hand. Erai followed afterwards, taking Nagayoshi's hand in his. He looked at his young friend concernedly.

"My hand got stabbed by a kunai, is all." Nagayoshi answered, trying not to go overbroad until the time comes. She smiled to reassure her friends.

While his partner and Erai were busy looking at Nagayoshi's injured hand, Itachi came to Kakuzu and asked, "Where's Ryouken?"

Kakuzu's eyes remained blank, despite a sharp thump of the heart jabbing the inside of his chest. Nagayoshi had a brief sharp inhalation at the mention of Ryouken. Before Kakuzu could speak, a figure divided in two colors: black and white, called the masked ninja. "Kakuzu, Pein-sama wished to speak with you personally."

Kakuzu nodded and then asked, "How about Nagayoshi?"

"She's not needed. Pein-sama only wants you."

Kakuzu obliged to the order and was to walk straight to Pein's office. Nagayoshi's good hand stopped him from going. He turned around and found himself staring at Nagayoshi's anxious obsidian orbs. "Oniisan…"

"Don't worry. Go get something to eat." Kakuzu reassured his sister, patting her on the head. He yanked his arm from Nagayoshi's grasp and left. He may not see it straight, but he knew that Nagayoshi was staring at his departing figure with worried and fearful eyes.

As Kakuzu was out of hearing, Itachi approached Nagayoshi. "What really happened?" he asked.

Nagayoshi stared at Itachi and sighed. "C'mon, guys. I'll tell you what was going on."

**|-oOo-|**

Konan had been standing in front of the door of Pein's office for the last ten minutes. She patiently waited for Pein's summon to come, standing still making her to look like a statue. The masked ninja came to sight, a reward for her patience, and she courteously opened the door for him. She said before opening the door, "Pein's expecting you."

"He sure does." Kakuzu replied lowly. He entered to the leader's office; the neat, roomy, and rain-scented office. One window was always opened, letting the air inside and outside the office to circulate constantly. Sitting before the oak wood table, was the orange-haired leader. Usually, he would be signing documents or simply sitting towards the closed window behind him. This time, he did neither. This time, he truly was expecting Kakuzu.

"Leave us, Konan." his voice spoke. Konan widened her eyes a little.

"Pein…?"

"Now." Pein insisted. He bothered not to look at Konan since it was Kakuzu he wanted to see. Konan nodded obediently and exited the office, leaving the two men alone. A ten second pause…none of them spoke until: "I heard from Zetsu." Pein began.

Kakuzu's eyes narrowed slightly. That bipolar had their eyes on him for a few days back and he disliked that. "They saw everything?" he asked.

"Everything from the moment you hunted your target." Pein answered.

"So you know what happened to Ryouken, then."

"Yes. That is exactly why I call you here, Kakuzu." Pein said. Kakuzu could feel his irritation rising at every sentence that he spoke. He was pretty sure that by now the leader was quite pissed off. The masked ninja silently counted the seconds. "Do you have any idea what you have done?" Pein asked, not bending all of his spleen.

"He assaulted my sister." Kakuzu defended immediately.

"I know that. I understand if you fight fist-to-fist with him to protect your sister but does it really necessary to kill him?" Pein interrogated heatedly. Outside, Konan winced at the raise of his voice. Although she was outside, Pein's angry voice could be heard through the door.

"Ryouken tried to rape my sister because of what happened nine years ago. Because of what happened to his brother, my partner before him. I wouldn't kill him either if he didn't call Nagayoshi a whore!" Kakuzu growled back at the leader. From amongst the other members, only he had the guts to defy Pein. There were many reasons: one of them being that he was in Akatsuki even before Pein was assigned as the leader.

Pein massaged his temples while Kakuzu clenched his fist to hold them from wreaking havoc in the office due to uncontrolled blood pressure. Pein sighed exasperatedly. "This is exactly my point. Love brings hate, hate brings revenge, and revenge brings war and death. His love for his brother creates his hatred towards you. You, on the other hand, love your sister and hates him for trying to rape her. Hatred controls you and your rage brought his death."

"You talked as if you know more than I do." Kakuzu scoffed.

Pein glared at the older ninja standing in front of him and his desk. "I may be half your age, but I know enough to be able to tell." he hissed.

"Well, then can I ask you something?" Kakuzu demanded. "I don't know how many precious people have you lost but I'll ask anyway: what if your closest person right now dies in the hands of someone who works with you all the time? What will you do, Pein-sama? Aren't you going to be furious? Aren't you going to sought revenge? Unless you're completely a heartless controlling machine, I'm sure you feel either of those." Kakuzu stepped closer towards the table. He sustained his leaning figure with his arms on the table. He lowered his voice to a mutter as he said, "I know how much precious your childhood friend who is standing outside is. If she gets killed, what will you do, Pein-sama?"

The younger, orange-haired leader narrowed his eyes whilst Kakuzu raised an eyebrow challengingly. Pein grunted. "I get your point." he grumbled.

"So I thought." Kakuzu said, stepping back. "I do what's right to me. I don't care if it's emotionally biased or what—I feel I need to kill him and that's what I did."

Still crossed that he lost the argument against someone whose position was below him, Pein sighed. He leaned in his chair, taking a less tensed sitting position. "Fine, very well. I'm still giving you a punishment, though."

"Go ahead."

"You are suspended from doing any activity outside the territory, for both Akatsuki matters and personal matters, like bounty hunting, for two months. The only outdoor you are allowed to go to is the Amegakure village and only that. That doesn't mean your duty as the financial manager of this organization is suspended too." Pein declared Kakuzu's punishment authoritatively.

"How about Nagayoshi?" Kakuzu asked.

"She's free of charge, so she's not suspended. She's a tool used to get you into this position. Anyway, during your suspension, her supervision is transferred to another member."

Kakuzu perked an eyebrow, both in wariness and curiosity. "And that member is…?"

"I decided that Kisame would be the best substitute supervisor during your suspension. That and they're pretty close with each other, which makes things easier. I was about to send her to Sasori and Orochimaru's subdivision, but Sasori had already had a subordinate. I can't possibly send him to Zetsu or Erai's subdivision, as you know it."

Kakuzu sighed; though he didn't completely showed to Pein how relieved he was, knowing that his sister won't be supervised with yet another people who liked kids for abnormal reasons. He nodded. "Very well. I deserve this punishment, anyway."

"Good. You're dismissed." Pein concluded.

**|-oOo-|**

"And _that_ was how I got my wound." Nagayoshi said, chomping on a cooking made by Erai, one of the members who can cook other than Konan and Kakuzu. She left her friends staring with amazement (or in Itachi's case: blankly) while she continued to devour the cooking. Being ambidextrous, eating with her left hand was just as easy as eating with her right hand. The inconvenient position of her wound made her impossible to use her right hand without getting reminded of its painful existence.

"I know about Ryouken's issues with Kakuzu, but I thought he'd forgiven him." Kisame remarked, recovering from gaping after hearing Nagayoshi's unbelievable story.

Nagayoshi swallowed. "That's what he thought too." She put her eating utensils down, although there were still a few spoons to finish. "You guys should see it. He was so angry at Oniisan. I never see him so fired up like that. He didn't look like the Ryouken we know."

"I can't even imagine."

Nagayoshi continued her meal. At the end of taking the first spoon, she asked, "Oh, are you guys leaving anytime soon?"

"Tuesday next week. What? You want us leave now?" Kisame asked back mischievously, grinning.

Nagayoshi chuckled. "No, silly. How about you, Erai? You don't have a mission, right?"

Erai smiled and shook his head. Nagayoshi beamed at his answer and cheered. At which point, Orochimaru came into the dining room. He went straightforward to meet Nagayoshi, giving her a thin pale smile. From the corner of his eyes, Itachi glared at the fellow former Konoha ninja with his pitch black eyes. Meanwhile, returning Orochimaru's wicked smile, Nagayoshi raised an eyebrow curiously. "Yes, Orochimaru?" she queried.

"Your brother wants to talk to you as soon as you are finished. You don't really have to hurry, though. Kakuzu has a whole lot more patience than Sasori, my partner." said the snakelike man. He chose a chair and sat casually.

Nagayoshi looked up to both Kisame and Itachi concernedly. "I don't have a good feeling, guys." she said. "He didn't look good when he was called by Pein-sama. I wonder if he's okay."

"Maybe you should go and see him now."

**|-oOo-|**

"Oniisan? Orochimaru said you called me. What is it?" Nagayoshi, entering her and Kakuzu's room, asked rather meekly. He was sitting on the bed, facing the door, and Nagayoshi knew immediately that he was waiting for her. He stood as she closed the door; Nagayoshi's bad feeling augmented.

"I did call you." he confirmed.

"What is it? Was there something going on in Pein-sama's office?" Nagayoshi rushed to her brother, asking almost frantically.

"That is exactly why I'm calling you here." Kakuzu answered calmly. He sat back down again, this time with Nagayoshi beside him. As soon as they were on that more relaxed position, he massaged his eyebrows and sighed exasperatedly. "I guess…I just have to say it straightforward."

Nagayoshi was eager to hear, but she waited still, knowing that it was hard for him.

"I was suspended as a punishment for killing Ryouken." Kakuzu said. Although vague, but there was a sign of disappointment and guilt in his voice.

"Suspended? What does that mean?" Nagayoshi asked, almost heatedly.

"It's like getting grounded, but I think it's a more professional term. I can't go anywhere but the Amegakure territory for the next two months. I will not be given any missions nor will be permitted to hunt a bounty. The things I can do are doing the paper work and cook food for myself." Kakuzu answered. He noticed Nagayoshi opening her mouth. She wanted to protest and before she did, Kakuzu ruffled her hair, pushing down her head slightly. She made a big scowl which amused Kakuzu by its exaggeration.

It was then, he realized, that Nagayoshi wasn't exaggerating.

That _was_ how she always scowled, playfully or not. Despite the growth in the last six months (now she was taller than Erai, being 152 cm), her facial flexibility hasn't fade yet. Kakuzu had to admit, though, that her face didn't look as childish anymore.

"So that means we can't meet Katana and Shirozaki for two months? No fighting whatsoever too? What's the fun in that?" Nagayoshi ranted, standing to her two feet, facing the sitting Kakuzu with both of her hands clenched in front of her.

"I didn't say that you're suspended too." Kakuzu added. "It's only me, not you. You're free—you can still go outside."

"It's just the same!" Nagayoshi shouted. Kakuzu winced due to the sound wave. "If you can't go, that means I can't go anywhere far too!"

"Would you just shut up and listen?!" Kakuzu scolded, cupping Nagayoshi's face with one hand, squishing her cheeks together. "I haven't finished. I know I still can't let you go outside Amegakure without anyone by your side. That is why you're given a substitute supervisor."

"Shubshtitoot shuperrvizur?"

"Precisely. Remember, the reason why you can enter this base on the first place was because you're my subordinate. Now, since I'm suspended and you still have a lot to learn, you're sent to another member." Kakuzu explained. He quickly unhanded Nagayoshi's face after realizing that her sister couldn't speak and he had hurt her a little on the cheeks.

"Okay. So who's my substitute? Sasori-danna? Konan?"

"Not both of them. It's actually pretty close to your everyday life—other than me."

"Erai?" she asked hopefully.

"Close, but no."

"Kisame?"

"Yep. He's your new supervisor. He's probably informed about it right now." Kakuzu knew how much she loved her friends and he expected her to cheer with unbearably high pitch and glass-shattering volume. Nevertheless, it was silent, save for the ticking clock and the pattering rain on the window. Kakuzu furrowed his eyebrows confusedly. "Aren't you excited?"

"I don't know how it's gonna feel like going on a mission without you, Oniisan." Nagayoshi mumbled. She bit her lower lip to express her uneasiness.

All that disappeared in a flash when Kakuzu scoffed, making a sound similar to that of a wheeze before he chuckled. His hand tapped on one of her shoulders friendly as he said, "I don't know you could be such a spoiled child. Come on, you're twelve now. You can't stay forever with me, you know. Anyway, it's Kisame and Itachi. I know they won't do what Ryouken was about to do to you."

Nagayoshi's smile returned and it grew to the toothy grin that Kakuzu knew so well. "Don't miss me too much, okay, 'Niisan? I might be away for quite some time." she teased her brother.

"I'm the one who should be saying that, kid. And don't worry; Kisame and Itachi don't have side-jobs like me. You should be home in less than a week or so."

**|-oOo-|**

The bag looked skinnier with only one person's needs carried inside it. Apples dominated fifty-five percent of the bag's capacity as always, then a map and spare underwear. Even if Nagayoshi couldn't take a bath everyday during the travel, at least she should change her underwear. She re-checked her weapon pouch: a few kunai, a few shuriken, and her baton. All complete.

Satisfied with what she had in her bag, she grinned and zipped it close. Encircling the bag's strap on her shoulders, the young kunoichi was ready to leave with two of her friends on a journey almost habitual to the life of Akatsuki members. She turned to her brother, whose hands were moving rapidly with a pen held in his fingers, and walked towards him. It made her wonder: Kakuzu seemed to have found a new hobby these last three days, most especially when Nagayoshi and he accompanied Erai on grocery shopping. (And on that day too, Nagayoshi earned her new black jacket. It was lighter, thinner, and cheaper, much to Kakuzu's relief.)

"Oniisan, I'm going." she announced loudly. She frowned, seeing that Kakuzu didn't seem to hear her. She walked closer and peered over his shoulder. Kakuzu's handwriting fell into the fancy, old writing category. She shouldn't be surprised—he did have lived for a long time. But that writing also prevented Nagayoshi from reading the contents of whatever it was he was writing. So she asked, "What are you writing?"

With a harsh smack, Kakuzu folded the notebook he was writing on. He turned around briskly in his chair, facing his flabbergasted sister. "Nothing." he answered quickly. "Just some notes on, uh…this week's spending, that's all. Oh, you're leaving?"

Nagayoshi sighed, "You really didn't listen."

"Sorry. Well, have a safe trip. And…when sleeping in an inn, try to have your own room. You're the only girl in the group."

"I'm _always_ the only girl in the group, Oniisan. Please…" Nagayoshi rolled her eyes.

"Just…don't hesitate to give them your elbow smash, in case they see you taking a bath or—"

"Oniisan, you're being ridiculous!" Nagayoshi snapped, flailing her arms in the air. "I can take care of myself, okay? It's time for me to show you that I'm not a kid anymore." she complained, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Kakuzu sighed. "Fine; I won't bug you anymore."

Nagayoshi grinned. "Let us just see: by the time I get back, I'll show you that I can take care of myself. I won't need to depend on you all the time anymore."

"What a big talk." Kakuzu shook his head, returning to the dark green notebook he had been previously writing on. He waited for Nagayoshi to leave, assuming that she had enough talking and would catch up to her temporary teammates.

A quick yet distinctive poke on his exposed, unmasked cheek noted him that she was just about to leave.

Eyes wide with shock, unaccustomed to that kind of treatment from his sister, he rubbed the small part of his cheek where he felt those delicate skin touched it. As he was about to demand for explanation, the kunoichi had left—with a gleeful giggle. He shrugged and continued to write, but that small, almost insignificant event adhered to his memory cells like a leech on skin.

* * *

**Do you know this feeling when you have two great ideas that are supposed to be connected but are confused as of how to connect the gap between the two? Yep, that is exactly what I'm feeling right now. I just hate it, and short chapters are the offspring of those blankness. Damn…damn-damn-damn-damn! Anyway…too many dialogues and lack of descriptions! The only part I like is where Kakuzu argues with Pein. The rest is crap! (fumes)**

**And…this is the 20th chapter (21, with the prologue)! For those of you who had read this far, liked the story, alerted it, faved it, and hasn't got bored of it—I wanna say: T.H.A.N.K Y.O.U!!! You guys are awesome and your appreciation to the story is loved! To repay your kindness, the next chapter shall be full of win! YUS…more fight scenes!**

**PS: For minor, immediately-dead OCs, I won't use animal names again as it was a pain in za ass. Instead, I'll just use common names, or, using the same tradition, other things' names—like food.**

**P.S (again): I won't be updating next week because the next chapter (since it meant to be special) isn't ready. Usually, it takes two or more weeks for a chapter to be truly ready. Why? Because I have to re-read it over and over again and check for mistakes and text flow. Do not be worry; I promise your long wait won't be fruitless.**


	22. The 20th Chapter Achievement Celebration

**Chapter 21: Of Bones and Cruelty Lessons**

"Guys, wait up!" Nagayoshi jogged to catch up the duo, Kisame and Itachi. The two men stopped, turning around: one with a grin and one without anything on his face. Once she was close behind them, Nagayoshi pulled to a stop, bending over to catch her breath. "Sorry—late. Okay! Let's get goin', shall we?"

"We were about to wait you outside the base, anyway, Nagayoshi. No need to hurry. We know you need some time to get off from your big brother's caring hands." Kisame sneered, cackling afterwards.

"Don't say things like that! And the way you say that his hands are caring kinda creeps me out." Nagayoshi replied. The three of them began to move their feet, walking through the awfully long tunnel to the entrance of the base. Kisame looked down to his youngest friend before looking down at the bandage still wrapping around her right hand's palm. He pointed at the injury.

"Are you sure you wanna kick someone's butt with that hand?" he asked.

Nagayoshi lifted her hand, stared at the bandage for a moment. "I'm pretty sure it's fine. I still have my left hand." she answered, waving her left hand.

"Still, you're gonna need the other one."

"Don't Kakuzu have a medical ability?" Itachi asked, out of the blue.

Nagayoshi blinked. "Hmm…come to think of it, yeah. He can do acupuncture, muscle supports, and such. But, I think, he's more to serious or abnormal body damage thing. I even think he's more of a surgeon than a doctor." the kunoichi answered, cupping her chin with her bandaged hand.

Kisame suddenly snorted, causing the two pairs of eyes to ogle at him.

"What? What's so funny?" Nagayoshi asked.

"Nothing." Kisame answered between restrained giggles, covering his mouth with a fist of his own. His shoulders continued to shake, though.

"You must be laughing at something about my brother, aren't you?" Nagayoshi interrogated, putting both of her hands on her hips. She scowled when the shark ninja shook his head. "You big liar! I can read you like a scroll!"

As the blue ninja proceeded to laughing out loud and the young kunoichi began to get physical, Itachi sensed an upcoming presence of someone in the cave. Cautiously, he narrowed his pitch black eyes. His chilly voice bounced throughout the rock-carved tunnel. "Someone's coming." he murmured. Instantly, the previously joking ninjas ended their voice projection.

With the help from the light of the candles settled on the wall, the three of them could see a white-head walking in calm and slow steps. As lead by Itachi, they slowed down their walking, adjusting it with the mysterious person's steps. Nagayoshi had already felt weird by the time she began to focus on this person's presence. She didn't recognize it but since Kisame and Itachi didn't make any rash movements, she decided to trust on their instincts. As the steps go, they walked towards each other closer, and that helped Nagayoshi to notice that it was a teenage boy walking. The boy was indeed had white hair and he wore glasses. The boy saw the Akatsuki duo and greeted them. "Kisame-san, Itachi-san, so you two are going somewhere?" he asked.

"Kabuto!" Kisame greeted back. "Yeah, it's just the usual sent-and-kill mission. Nothing new."

Kabuto's dark eyes drifted to the androgynous girl behind Kisame. "And that is…?"

"Oh, I believe you guys haven't met yet! Nagayoshi, this is Kabuto Yakushi, Sasori-san's subordinate. He just came in a few days ago, but I don't think you were back yet. And, Kabuto, this is Nagayoshi, Kakuzu's subordinate and sister." Kisame introduced the two subordinates. Nagayoshi offered her hand, but Kabuto just stared at it.

"Are you going to fight with that hand?" Kabuto asked, pointing at the hand that was bandaged.

Nagayoshi retrieved her hand, caressing it. "I have to."

"You can get an infection. Here, let me heal it. Is it deep?"

"Does front to back sounds deep to you?" Nagayoshi asked back, watching intensely as Kabuto swiftly undid the bandage. Her skin felt cold as the cloth left her skin and her wound was exposed. In amazement, Kisame bent down to look at it closer.

"Wow, some wound you have there. And…some fancy sewing. Kakuzu really is a surgeon, isn't he?"

"Cut that joke already!" Nagayoshi snapped, yet Kisame just laughed. Itachi, on the other hand, just stared at the two, probably resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"Stay still. I'm going to start the healing process now." Kabuto said, putting his hands on top of Nagayoshi's injured one. His hands were dry, as if there were no sweat glands underneath the layer of skin. Instead, flowing green medical chakra seeped out of his pores and traversed to Nagayoshi's wound. It didn't feel painful—unlike when it was stitched—but it felt warm, like a cup of tea poured in a measured flow to her skin. The chakra was light, enabling it to go through the tiny cells and renew them. Within approximately twenty seconds, Nagayoshi's kunai wound was already closed, leaving only the scar that told the world that a knife was stabbed here. Kabuto retrieved his hands and the chakra stopped flowing.

"Amazing…" Nagayoshi whistled, touching the exact spot where Ryouken used his kunai to stick her hand to a tree. "But why is the scar still visible?" she asked.

"The pigment cells can do it themselves. What I did is closing the wound and cleans the already existing infection. Don't worry; the scar will be gone in a few months." Kabuto said, his lips pulled a convincing smile.

"That doesn't sound too short." Nagayoshi remarked. "Thanks, anyway."

"Wouldn't it be cool, though, that you have a battle scar? You can show it off to your successors how tough your life was."

Nagayoshi chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds cool."

Tired of waiting, Itachi interjected, "C'mon, we better get going." He walked again, a little faster this time, compelling his companion to follow in the same rhythm. Kisame followed immediately, beckoning Nagayoshi to come along by flicking his hand. Nagayoshi nodded and turned for the last time to the white-haired boy.

"Thanks again, Kabuto. I guess…see you after I get back." Nagayoshi waved at him and jogged to follow her substitute supervisor. This time, the trio's figure faded under the darkness' flowing black cloak. Kabuto stood there, his face showed no emotions, watching at the boy-like girl fading out of his eyesight.

**|-oOo-|**

Nagayoshi didn't know why she suddenly hated the sun. She used to be baked under it for hours, which caused the dark tone of her skin. Well, she wouldn't mind getting a little sun, but _this_ much? Forget about it.

She had never been to the Land of the Wind. Pein usually sent her brother's division to the Land of the Fire and/or Land of the Earth where the climate was usually warm and cozy. She also had never been to Kisame's home country, Land of the Water. She was quite curious as of how that country surrounded by water look like. Kisame had told her stories about it, saying that it was the most savage place in the whole world. He went through the savagery and survived. He didn't feel guilty for killing the rest of his schoolmates as he didn't like them for obvious reasons. He may seem somber every time he mentioned his childhood, but Kisame's face, as observed by Nagayoshi herself, didn't look as somber when he talked about the Mizukage he worshipped so much. It awed Nagayoshi, knowing that Kisame was a man with a heart and respect.

Throughout the desert, Kisame and Itachi wore their straw hat while Nagayoshi pulled up her hood to cover her head from heat. With hair as thick and black as hers, heat would be easily trapped in between her scalps. Luckily, the namesake of the country brought coolness to their sweating and flushing faces, yet at the same time it brought irritation their eyes thanks to the sand. The soft and dry soil was warm on their exposed toes, breaking entrances to the sole of their black sandals. Its cushy surface made walking much more difficult than it sounds. Many times, one of their feet would sink deep into the sand and they would need each other's help to get out. That and the heat wave made their throat cry for water. Kisame, being the one who seemed to suffer from the heat the most, constantly had the water sack's end near or in his mouth.

Rows of roof from short buildings appeared somewhere beyond the horizon, much to the Akatsuki's relief. As much as they were driven with the desire to arrive as soon as possible, rent a room and rest, they had to reserve their energy. Unless…

The Sunbake Village, said the giant letterings on the arch that acted as a gate between the desert and the village. Kisame scoffed at how ironic the name was with the condition of the village under this climate; "Catchy." he had said. The village was less than crowded, with only at least a dozen people walking on the streets. There seem to lack kids, or even if there were, the kids must have stayed indoors, on the other side of the village, or at school. The inn, unfortunately, was not close from where the arch was. In nearly frustrated the blue ninja; he just wanted to get away from this torture.

"One room with three beds, please." Itachi spoke to the receptionist. She nodded and picked a key that lead to the desired room. She turned around again.

"I'm sorry, sir, but unfortunately, we have no room with three beds. There is a room with two beds, one king and one single. Is that okay?" she said, grimacing, the key to the said room dangled on her finger.

Itachi barely opened his mouth when Kisame interjected, "We'll take it." and snatched the key. Without further ado, he strode to the designated room. Itachi sighed in the process of following his partner.

With the inn being small, it wasn't hard to find the room. Kisame impatiently jammed the key into the hole, turning it unlocked abruptly and enter the small room, attacking the single bed head first and buried his face in the pillow. "Ahh…finally!" he exclaimed. Despite the exhaustion, effortlessly, he removed Samehada from his back and tucked it under the bed. He sighed contentedly and refused to budge even as Nagayoshi spoke to him.

"Kisame, you're not going to have something to eat?" she asked. She sat on the king bed across the single-sized one, watching the blue-skinned ninja as he processed his brain into sleeping mode.

"I ain't goin' out again. You guys just leave without me." Kisame answered lethargically.

"Okay…we'll bring you something." Nagayoshi stood again, walking to the waiting Itachi who pocketed the room's key. "Sleep tight, Kisame." she said lastly. She and Itachi exited their room and walked casually towards the stranded dry street of the small village.

"Want some dango and tea?" Itachi offered, pointing nonchalantly at the store of the said food on the corner of the street. His offer was responded quickly and eagerly by the young kunoichi.

"That's a good idea! I don't wanna eat anything too oily or too fatty in a climate like this." Nagayoshi replied and impatiently strode towards the dango shop.

Once they entered the shop, they were greeted by electric fans blowing blissful breeze at their sweaty and red-cheeked faces. They took a seat on a corner with a fan blowing right at them. They made their orders and within short ten minutes, two cups of green tea and two portions of dango were served. Nagayoshi ordered the more salty and sour flavored ones while Itachi preferred the sweeter dango. Each portion has five sticks of dango, consisting of three different colored balls of cake.

"This is probably one of the most significant differences between travelling with you and Kisame, and travelling with my brother." Nagayoshi said, chewing the second ball of dumpling. Itachi kept eating, but his eyes were directed at the girl. She continued, "Kakuzu, as we know it, is always very strict on money so never he lets us have a meal at a restaurant or café like this. He didn't seem to eat a lot too, and the only thing he'll eat is cupped noodles."

"Every day?" the black-haired youngster asked before sipping his tea.

"Yeah. He said that 'it's delicious, cheap, and provides the needed energy' but I said 'it's what makes you get angry so easily, dummy.'" she laughed whilst Itachi kept the straight face on. Nagayoshi didn't mind the one-sided amusement; she knew Itachi won't laugh easily. "He should follow my example. I eat fruits instead of instant foods."

The conversation had a short pause with no awkwardness hanging on the tail of it. Nagayoshi devoured her dango and drank her tea. For a good few minutes, they ate in silence. That was until Itachi secretively handed a big brown envelope and, backing the other customers, she read the given set of documents. She only needed a few minutes to read them all. She kept those to herself after she finished.

"He sounds powerful. How are we going to take him down without the help of Kisame's muscles and power?" Nagayoshi asked her slightly older companion.

"There's something the papers don't tell you. He only appears during midnight, where the henchmen of one chief candidate usually lurk." Itachi answered. "I'm pretty sure Kisame is awake by that time." he added.

"I still don't get it. Why would the chief candidate want this so-called 'protector of Sunbake' die? He's a good man—or at least his résumé said so." Nagayoshi asked again.

"It's politics, Nagayoshi. The presence of our target threatens the success of the candidate, because, believe me or not, our target is also a chief-to-be. It's actually an election competition and I think he's more favored by the people too."

"And that's why we have to kill him." Nagayoshi concluded.

Itachi nodded slowly. "Exactly."

"So we're helping some corruptive success of someone? This is…this is…" she trailed off; a dango stick in her hand snapped into two.

"I know it's hard to digest but this is what makes Akatsuki different to the shinobi villages. Shinobi villages actually select the requests given to them, siding with what they think is right. On the other hand, Akatsuki is more democratic. It doesn't choose sides and it offers cheaper service. But since the members of Akatsuki are S-ranked criminals, only small villages with desperate needs and certain people that hire us. So no wonder why we kill more 'heroes' than 'villains.'" Itachi explained. He observed the visage of Nagayoshi along the lines of her facial muscles. So far, they had been stiff. He half-lidded his eyes, idiosyncratically spinning his cup of green tea.

Nagayoshi sighed. Itachi inclined his head, seeing her now leaning on her arm propped on the table. "I don't think I'm gonna like politics after this." she whined.

"Don't worry. I hate politics too." Itachi replied. "It's what made me into this."

Nagayoshi blinked and straightened her sitting position. She eyed the long-haired boy intensely, one eyebrow rising. "What happened?" she asked.

Itachi blinked rapidly, his eyes snapped to focus, realizing that he had just talked too much. He raised his cup in front of his mouth, letting the thick mist of the tea to slightly obscure the changes in his face. "Nothing." he said. He took a quick sip then added, "Just forget it."

The kunoichi frowned. She leaned forward. "Come on, Itachi! I wanna know!" she demanded. It crossed her that Itachi slapped away her curiosity by ordering the waitress to give them the bill. While he dug his wallet to pay their dangos and teas, Nagayoshi posed an addition question, "Does Kisame know what you don't want to tell me?"

The waitress left, money obtained and slotted in her pocket. Itachi returned his gaze to her; seriousness flowed from his pitch black irises. "No. He's as clueless as you. Only one person that knows my history and he's not even possible to find."

"Why? He's in the grave already?"

There was a pause.

"Yes. Yes, he's dead." Itachi answered.

**|-oOo-|**

The desert was the personality disordered sister amongst the family of terrains. It was hot, asphyxiating and deadly during the day, and it was cold, windy, stormy and deadly all the same during the night. If someone was looking for a getaway with two different extreme climates in one day, this was the place.

With the lack of trees and the lack of modern civilization, the moonlight shone brightly, accompanied by its tiny minion stars. Its beam was so bright, it even gave humans enough light to actually see like they would during the day. In the Sunbake village, there was one person who prowled the village streets at night. A man in his mid-forties; leanly built and face framed with brownish blonde hair. His light blue eyes scanned the empty streets, looking for dirty mongrels who had been trying to made him fall from both being a candidate and the chief of the village. He knew what he was doing was right. He cared for the people whilst his rival did not. He couldn't let such foulness exist.

Only the rustle of hanged ornaments filled his ears. He scrunched his eyes immediately. Three hours…three hours and no one was coming to attack him. The village was eerily and strangely silent tonight. As much as he liked it, it bothered him. It _shouldn't _be silent. There must be something wrong. He intended to hop down from the roof he had been standing on when he saw three different shadows coming at him. His eyes were scrunched again. _Now what?_

"Gaikotsu, isn't it?" asked a voice—a man's voice. The man standing on the roof did not answer, not until he could see who was talking. The heavy steps became closer and closer and it surprised him to see that the one was talking was actually a ninja; a tall, blue ninja with a smile that showed his sharp teeth. He held what it seemed to be a sword.

He answered, "What do you want?"

Kisame grinned. Itachi and Nagayoshi came to Gaikotsu's view. An eyebrow was raised, but with moonlight shining on his back, the trio from Akatsuki couldn't make out his expression. "Well, well…you are the village's night ranger. I've to say, you got some good sense of timing. I don't know if I can stand fighting under the heat."

"I ask you again: what do you want?" Gaikotsu asked in a more menacing manner. Yet, it didn't faze the offensive trio below him.

"What do you think?" Kisame taunted. The pitch black pair of eyes owned by Itachi moved to the corner of their eye sockets.

"I was wishing that you would be some of the rare people that want to help me on my crusade. But…it doesn't seem that you are—especially with those headbands of yours. You three are criminals." said Gaikotsu. He set up a sturdy stance, triggering Kisame to set up his. His eyes shot sharply at them; suspicion seasoned his feelings. "Then you must be sent to kill me, just like those vermin."

"Well, aren't you a smart one. I just hope your power is as good as your brain and talk."

"You're about to see it." Gaikotsu held up both of his arms, making him looked like as if he was crucified on a cross. Out of nowhere, the weather changed; desert wind blew, carrying eye-hurting sand particles to the air. They gathered around Gaikotsu's stretched out limbs, blocking the view of his skin.

"He controls sand?" Nagayoshi muttered in wonderment. She withdrew her extendable baton from her weapon pouch.

"I'm not surprised." Kisame muttered back, his eyes were adhesively focused to his opponent up on the roof. "He's from Sunagakure, the same place where Sasori-san came from."

"Wait, Itachi, did the résumé said anything about his powers?" Nagayoshi asked, now to the teenager on her side.

"None." the Uchiha simply answered.

"Aw, man."

"Don't worry, Nagayoshi. We're gonna win this alright." Kisame said, still not moving his eyes.

Nagayoshi looked doubtful for a while. That Gaikotsu became a chief candidate for a reason. She may not know what reason exactly, but it couldn't be because simply of his charisma. She looked to Itachi which nodded at her. "He knows what he's talking about." he said.

The sand swirls stopped in a blink of an eye, staying still around Gaikotsu's arms. Gaikotsu clenched his fists underneath the swirl of sands and the ochre soil dispersed and fell to the ground. Replacing the sand, crocodile skull-like bones were attached to his arms, complete with the eye holes and three inches long sharp teeth. That was what the Akatsuki did not expect.

"With my power, your fate will end the same as any other filthy mongrels that had been trying to knock me down. No foul rats shall rule this village."

"Fight, bastard!" Kisame shouted, swinging Samehada effortlessly in front of him, pointing the large sword at his increasingly interesting opponent.

"As you wish, vermin. Come and get me." Gaikotsu's index finger motioned in challenging the blue ninja. Kisame grinned and with one powerful bound, he attacked Gaikotsu with immense force. With one simple step, Gaikotsu evaded, letting Kisame's gigantic sword to crash against the roof upon where he was standing.

People screamed and ran from the destructed house. Children began to wail in fear and women cried in panic. Gaikotsu gasped as he landed on another roof. On the other hand, Kisame sneered triumphantly. "Heheh…so it worked, alright."

"Nice one, Itachi. Using Gaikotsu's passion for the people and Kisame's passion for destruction to our advantage is brilliant." Nagayoshi praised. "So this is how you two fight."

"Come on, Gaikotsu. This little blue vermin here is going to destruct more houses if you don't fight." Kisame taunted more. His sharp-teethed grew wider with the knowledge of winning.

Gaikotsu looked to his surroundings. The women handling their children; men trying to rescue people who were still trapped inside the destructed house; children were still crying in fear. He looked at his tall enemy and his two companions that decided to join him. They were still young, he thought. He gritted his teeth and stretched both arms forward. The bones on his arms opened, like a crocodile on a hibernate mode, and sand jetted from it.

Not expecting such a high speed attack, Kisame was forced to make a rapid decision. "Everybody, get behind me!" he shouted and blocked the jet of sand using the wide side of Samehada. Both Itachi and Nagayoshi stood align behind him, their eyes closed. Kisame, however, did the hard work. Blocking an abundant amount of running sand wasn't easy, it was not like blocking water in which Kisame was born. He put all his power on his arms and legs muscles to help him withstand the force.

Not long afterwards, the sand onslaught ceased. The three of them opened their eyes carefully. Kisame removed his oversized sword immediately from his front only to find the skull-user nowhere. He growled. "He escaped!"

"Not for long. He's heading north and not too far from where we are. He's heading to the middle of the desert. I'll catch him up!" Nagayoshi said before launching her signature move using _Shippuujinrai Shunshin._ She left Kisame and Itachi behind quickly, even as the men were trying to follow her. With the wind gargling cacophonously in her ears as she dashed away, Itachi's call was unheard.

In a speed twice as fast as a falcon, she easily caught up with Gaikotsu whose speed was absorbed by the sand dunes' cushy surface. Her speed decelerated too as she set foot on the sand, but since her jutsu was still in use, she could still be categorized as rapid. She dug her hands into her shuriken pocket on her right thigh and flung them at her target. Gaikotsu heard the shuriken's buzz as they shot at him and before any of them hurt his flesh, he threw some shuriken of his own. Nagayoshi added a little more chakra on her feet and leaped from the sand dunes towards the dirty blonde man. She launched a spinning kick which hit Gaikotsu's left ear. He stumbled on the sand, accidentally having some in his mouth too.

Nagayoshi had learned not to let her opponent stand back up and when the opportunity came, she should kill who she was told to kill. She unleashed her baton, coating it with her lightning chakra and she would use that weapon of hers to send a devastating one hundred thousand megavolts. A jolt to the base of the skull should be more than just enough to kill this man. She faced the double-tipped end of the baton (which she still need some serious improvement) at his head. She tightened her grip and swung her baton downward.

She shouted. A bone structure similar to that of a turtle's but bigger caught her baton-handling wrist. Turtles did not have teeth like alligator, but their beak enabled them to break shells. This one seemed to almost crackle Nagayoshi's wrist bone. And where did it come from, anyway? It was from no other than under the sand. Nagayoshi wriggled her wrist but instead of setting her free, it starting to cause a bruise on it. She did not lose hope; she had still her left arm free so she used that arm to grab the baton and prolong her mission. Only…it was also held on to place by a python's spinal bones that also came from the deep. As if to make things worse, her legs were also bound with the same material. "Ugh, what is this thing?!"

"Young girl, you risk your future by doing this foul business. You shouldn't have been involved in corruptive politics in the first place." Gaikotsu muttered as he slowly rose from lying down on the sand. He cleaned his mouth and face from the dry earth particles. "I believe you are an orphan. What brings you here? Your guardian uses you to do his dirty work?" he asked vicariously. One of his sand-stained hands patted Nagayoshi's black hair.

"He didn't use me! He never will!" Nagayoshi spat back. She shook her head to get his hand off of her.

"You chose to be a criminal? Don't you ever imagine a perfect life? A life where you can get everything without fighting? Without having to see blood?" Gaikotsu continued to ask. On the last question, he spotted a significant difference in Nagayoshi's reaction. "Ah, so you do fear the blood. I don't blame you."

Nagayoshi gritted her teeth and hung her head low. His hand reached her chin. She knew this was her chance and let loose as many electrical surges as possible. Unfortunately, not even a tiny volt came out. She wondered why as her head was involuntarily inclined by Gaikotsu's gentle hand. Upon seeing her hands, she found the answer.

"It doesn't occur to my mind." Gaikotsu continued. "You seem to be afraid of blood, then why did you choose this path in the first place?"

Nagayoshi's face tightened as her brows furrowed. She, with no doubt, answered, "Because I don't want to be in a separate way as he is. He's the reason why I'm here, why I live. Okay, I admit, our first meeting started up with him trying to kill me and I tried to kill him; but what matters is what happens after that. He's my mentor and I'll try my best to improve and make him proud. I don't care if I have to sacrifice all the pavements to the road to heaven."

Gaikotsu's eyes enlarged at the girl's flawless answer. He didn't expect that from her. A person her age still has many leagues to go. Can they really make up their mind like that? Nevertheless, in the end, he smiled, much to Nagayoshi's confusion. "I see now. I can understand your feeling." He raised one of crocodile skull armament to Nagayoshi's face level. He pressed one protruding spike at her cheek. "I don't like killing young people." he said softly. "But I can't leave a bad kid unpunished. I'm only going to leave a scratch on you, but I also will read your memories."

"What? Read my—aaaah!!!" Nagayoshi screamed as the spike dipped deeply into her cheek, eventually touching her cheekbone underneath. It wasn't how deep the spike sliced into her flesh that hurt her, it was the icicles jabbing the back of her brain. A thick sheet of steel seemed to be forcefully injected into her head, coating her skull. Not just that, the steel somehow melted and seeped through the cracks between her brain cells, and everybody should know how to make a steel melt.

Gaikotsu himself was drowned into her memories; his breath quickened and so did his pulse. Since Nagayoshi was still young, it didn't take him a long time to read all of the memories. Finally, he came to where it all began. The storm, the rain, the wind, the hasty paces, the panting breath, the thunder…

He tumbled aback, terror-stricken. His bulging eyes shot at now wildly confused Nagayoshi. She was relieved that he finally ceased the melting-steel feeling in his head, but he didn't have to look at her that way. The big dribble of blood on her cheek was easily ignored, having worse than that one before.

Nagayoshi just froze seeing Gaikotsu's panting and shivering. When she was about to ask, he stammered, "You…you were born from their blood?" He regained his composure, standing. He looked at Nagayoshi much sharply this time. "I don't usually do this. But for you, I make an exception."

Another animal skull emerged from the sand and wrapped itself around his arm. This time, it was a ram's skull and there was a pair of curling horns with the tips pointing precisely to the front. If that animal was still alive, it would kill more than just his love rivals. Gaikotsu aimed the spear sharp tips towards Nagayoshi's chest; the right side of the tip would pierce her lungs and then heart and with her powers locked down by the boney trap, her death was about to be inevitable. "We'll meet after death, kid, and then I'll explain why I have to kill you."

Nagayoshi gritted her teeth and starting to frantically wriggle her arms and legs off from the trap. Her brain shutdown the nerves in her wrists, making them oblivious to the bruising caused by the tortoise skulls. Gaikotsu did not waste any time; he immediately thrust the ram's head at her.

"Nagayoshi!" Kisame came, shouting. He slammed Samehada at the ram's skull, crushing it into smithereens. Gaikotsu backed away with two long hops. He watched as Kisame's physical power crushed the bone traps easily as he would with a twig. "You okay?" Kisame asked his much younger friend, who was rubbing both of her bruised wrists.

"Yeah. No serious injuries. He did something to my brain, though." answered Nagayoshi.

"Genjutsu?" Itachi inquired.

"I don't think so. He stabbed my cheek with that crocodile bone of his until it touched mine. Suddenly, my head just feels so painful. He said he can read my mind."

"That does sound like a Genjutsu."

"Whatever, we still have to kill this guy and I won't hold back anymore if he runs away again." Kisame snarled, bracing his sword at his opponent.

"Don't worry." Gaikotsu said. "Now that we're far from the village, I don't have to hold back anymore. I will show you my true power." Gaikotsu brought his hands together and in a speed perhaps equivalent to Nagayoshi's _shunshin_, he made a long row of hand seals. The hand seals were very elaborate that it gave Itachi time to mutter to Kisame:

"Whatever you do, no flashy moves." By the time he spoke, his black eyes changed drastically into scorching red. Nagayoshi whistled in amazement.

"Whoo…this is the first time I see the Sharingan myself." she commented.

The seals done, now Gaikotsu could commence his ultimate jutsu. He held his arms away in front of him and shouted, "_Kutai Gunsha: Tsudou!_" Blue streams of visible chakra exploded from his pores and scattered around the desert. The Akatsuki waited, wary of what may have come. They could have knocked Gaikotsu before his jutsu was completed, but Kisame's request to have a little sport forced them to stand, see, and wait. The chakra fell to the sand and dug deep underground like worms. Some of the streams, like the one nearest to Nagayoshi, stopped moving. Noticing this anomaly, Nagayoshi's left eyebrow rose by half an inch.

Suddenly, the ground shook; causing the three Akatsuki's footing to wobble. Nagayoshi fell to her knees at the same time a large piece of bone emerged from under the sand. The first bone flew to equip itself on Gaikotsu's shoulder. Soon afterwards, subsequent to the increasingly shaky earthquake, more bones flew from underground and became part of Gaikotsu's armor. The bones he used were much more unusual too. Their sizes were tens or possibly hundreds of times bigger than the tortoise skull that bit Nagayoshi's wrists. The shapes themselves were different too; the bone that used as Gaikotsu's helmet was actually armed with three horns and a fan-like neck protector. The crocodile snouts were off, replaced by two different yet more carnivorous version. The right side was slimmer than left side, indicating that they came from two different animals. Gigantic spinal cord and ribs encased his back and spine, creating a long, large, lethal skeletal tail with solid bone spikes on the end.

After all those bones were securely attached to his body, Gaikotsu suddenly became fifty times bigger than his original size, which was only six foot. Nagayoshi gaped at the skeletal wonder a few yards before her and her two friends. Her mouth quivered before she could say, "Wuh-wow…that's the first time I see someone completely uses the sources of the past eras."

"I take back my words; do whatever you want, Kisame." Itachi said.

"Alright! That's what I'm talking about!"

"You want to fight, don't you? Then come and get me!" Gaikotsu shouted at the tall blue-skinned ninja menacingly. His invitation was responded positively by Kisame.

"You ask for it!" Kisame dashed on the sand floor, putting a dense layer of chakra on his feet to prevent him from getting sucked by the sand. He bellowed his feral war cry as the muscles of his arms worked to lift his gigantic sword and smashed it against Gaikotsu's first line of defense, his long and large tail. The impact made such a powerful wave that it blew the sand surrounding them as if a sandstorm was occurring. Itachi and Nagayoshi guarded their eyes and mouth, missing a few moments of fighting in the process.

Kisame's fingers quivered at the impact. He had to tighten his jaws just to help him endure the impact. But soon enough, those tight jaws loosened as he made a large toothy grin that also triggered his adrenaline, making him hit Gaikotsu's bones much more brutally. Meanwhile, the Bone Wielder starting to feel his feet sinking deeper and deeper into the sand as Kisame's atrocious smashes barraged his skeletal fossil tail. He cursed silently; _who is this guy? _He'd thought. _What kind of monstrous power is he using against me?_

Fed up of being pushed down, he removed his tail for a while and aimed his left arm, the one with more jagged teeth than the right one, at the swordsman. It shot at him, connected to Gaikotsu's arm by a long train of chakra as thick as Nagayoshi's juvenile arm. The jaws of the skull opened and precisely bit Kisame's arm that was currently holding Samehada. The blue ninja yelled at the sharp jagged teeth scraping at his muscular arm. A smirk flashed on Gaikotsu's face and it grew slightly as he yanked his arm to the side brusquely. The yanking caused the chakra rope to pull away following the movement of his left arm and as a result, dragging and tossing Kisame along. Samehada, unfortunately, was off from its owner's hands.

Nagayoshi gasped and turned quickly to Itachi. "We have to help him!" she said frantically.

Itachi nodded responsively. "Follow my lead. Aim at his left shoulder, forty degrees south. That's it; keep it steady…and fire!"

At the mention of 'fire', Nagayoshi channeled the needed amount of chakra to her palm, condensing it and causing her palm to ignite with white light. As she released the tension, a cacophonous boom exploded from the same hand in unison with a powerful ray beam of thousand of volts of electricity. Gaikotsu was extremely startled when he heard the boom but was too late to dodge, therefore the condensed lightning bolts struck where Nagayoshi aimed at. He fell back slightly; the bone covering his shoulder and chest protected him from being completely fried by the electricity charge. Nevertheless, his feral grip on Kisame loosened completely.

Nagayoshi dashed towards Gaikotsu, bracing his baton and embalming it with her own chakra. Itachi, not expecting her movement, was startled and was too late to stop her. "Wait!" he called, but the girl didn't listen. He chased after her.

Kisame heard his partner-in-crime called after the girl as he cleaned his mouth from sand. Before he could blink, Nagayoshi was already ahead of his opponent. Now he fully understood why Itachi bothered going after her. With no further ado, he too pumped his leg muscles.

Even Gaikotsu wasn't expecting a direct approach from the girl he tried to kill beforehand. With his senses still trying balance after the previous big shock attack, he failed to notice her sudden appearance on time. She just all of a sudden was in front of him. Nagayoshi swung her baton, trying to smash and fracture his skull armor he wore on his head. Gaikotsu yanked his head back, but a quarter of Nagayoshi's baton succeeded in breaking the horn on the very front of his armor. He thrust his right arm; the arm that was equipped with an ancient predator with slimmer snout than the one on the left arm, shorter yet tighter rows of sharp teeth. Nagayoshi hopped back, but was not fast enough for the predatory structure caught her left thigh. She could feel the tightly-packed teeth grazing at her skin and deeper to the flesh. Gaikotsu wrenched his arm, dragging the twelve-year-old closer to him. His tail curled, the spiked end of it pointed at Nagayoshi, much to her alarm. Without further hesitance, he let gravity and the push of his own will to bring the spikes to the ground.

Nagayoshi clamped her eyes, expecting a swift death and blinding light shining before her. Five seconds passed and her chest was thumping. She encouraged herself to open her eye and stole a glance at what may have happened. The verdict shocked her.

Glaring at the Bone Wielder and holding the spiked tail up with two hands, Kisame stood before her, his back facing her. Nagayoshi's reaction was simply gaping. The feeling of hot sticky liquid drooling on her thigh didn't bother her. With much difficulty, she spoke, "K-Kisame…?" Briefly, she heard footsteps behind her and looked back. There was another Kisame, much more complete with the Samehada in his hands. "Huh?"

The Kisame in front of her slammed his foot at the skull gnashing her thigh, shattering it before he took off with her in his arms. The one with Samehada was grinning hugely, Samehada lowered to his side. Even from afar, Nagayoshi noticed the odd-looking sword was wriggling. She narrowed her eyes, curious of what happened. She heard a low chuckle from Kisame that was still carrying her in his arms. She turned slightly, seeing his amused face. "Watch it. It's going to be really awesome." he said.

Blue, dorsal fin-like protrusions overgrew in milliseconds all over Samehada's body, ripping off the bandages that wrapped around it, revealing its true face. Water swirls leaked from the tips of the protrusions, creating a puddle on a concaved sand texture nearby. Kisame raised his gigantic blade, the water still attached to the weapon flawlessly. Swerving Samehada back a little, Kisame shouted, "_Isonade No Dageki!_" and with all his might, turned it sharply towards his skeletal opponent. The water in the puddle was pulled along with a swing, creating a whip-like pattern but with Samehada's harmful-to-skin features. The water collided with a loud crash and splash on Gaikotsu's armor and at the same time, detaching all the boney armors from him. All sank into the great puddle of wet sand.

Gaikotsu coughed, spurting water out of his throat. He wheezed and panted, trying to catch his breath after being mercilessly stolen from him for a few short seconds. A pair of feet stopped in front of him; a blue pair of feet. He looked up menacingly, teeth gritting, determined not to lose for he has dreams and goals for his tiny deserted village. He thrust an arm at Kisame, intending send a prehistoric predator skull again at him. But…it was gone. In fact, everything was gone. "I…I can't retrieve the bones!" he stammered. Panic began to stride into his veins; the heart pumped three counts faster. "What—what…?"

"I'll tell you a thing. Samehada don't just shred people; it shreds your chakra too and eats it." Kisame said, for once his voice was not as bright as it usually is. In fact, this one sounded murky.

Now supported by Itachi (and the other Kisame gone into a puddle of water too), Nagayoshi suddenly had a momentary period of flashback. This time, was not caused by Gaikotsu and his bone-to-bone mind-reading Genjutsu. This side of Kisame reminded him of the wolf side of Kakuzu. She didn't know why and how, but she felt that Kisame was emanating a different type of chakra that still tasted like his usual one. Yet, it was so ominous, so dark, so…frightening. Unintentionally, she gripped a tight handful of Itachi's cloak. Her spine froze.

Itachi stole a glance at her. She was paling, he thought, and he wasn't too surprised by it. "Don't look away." he muttered, breaking through the silence that went around them both. "Whatever happens, don't look away. If you want to fit in with us, you have to stand looking at what's going to come."

As much as she wanted to disobey Itachi, a dominating part of her compelled her to look. Her intakes of breath sharpened. She prepared herself for the worse; even though she wasn't too sure how bad it would be.

Back to the sandy and wet graveyard of bones, Gaikotsu's eyes were bulging wide in terror and frantic. He stumbled aback; the dreading urge to flee from the blue, sword-wielding monster overwhelmed his nerves. He stopped; not by his own accord. A size 47 shoes stepped on his 44. Gaikotsu looked to his chaser's face. He saw an incisor tooth exposed from a wicked glee. Next came his howl.

Nagayoshi gasped. She squirmed to run away but Itachi forcefully held her in place. "I said don't look away." he snapped. The grip on her wrist around his shoulders tightened. "Just hang on." he added coldly.

"Itachi…I…" Nagayoshi heaved, but nothing would come out of her mouth. She tried again. "I…I can't…Itachi…"

"Yes, you can! Just be strong." the raven-haired prodigy insisted.

Sweat glands leeched their salty contents. Those located on Nagayoshi's head produced the most sweat as Itachi continued to force her seeing a horrifying image a few yards in front of them. More than an image; a movie—of a politically correct man, struggling to be the leader of a village he cherished, limbs torn and tortured mercilessly by a man much bigger than him, who was also Nagayoshi's close friend. A good movie came with good sound effects. This one has a sound effect so real it pierced the heart of whoever hears it. Nagayoshi even lost her footing.

Kisame chuckled looking at Gaikotsu's now incomplete body. The blue ninja got a little too carried away, nearly dismembering the poor man's head. However, his head and body were the ones left. The limbs were scattered, as with the liquid essence. Kisame stared at his hands. What was light and pale blue was now completely red. It didn't even look purplish a single bit. He thought twice before smearing the stain on his cloak and instead wiped on Gaikotsu's clothes instead, even though it only helped cleaning them a little. Holding the body by the collar of its shirt, Kisame turned to meet his two companions, only to find the girl kneeling on the sand floor, closing her mouth with a hand—possibly sobbing. He picked up his pace, eager to see what was going on. The extra weight he dragged behind him brought him to the answer he was looking for.

Something, however, clung to Kisame's mind. He knew that Nagayoshi wasn't stupid. He knew she would already look away by the time he began the slaughter. But yet…she didn't. Immediately, he knew who was behind this. "Itachi-san…" he murmured. Itachi glanced at him. "You were going too far on the kid. You should have let her close her eyes when she couldn't stand it anymore."

"She has—no, she needs to. If she's going to stay and live with us, then she needs to get used to those kinds of things." Itachi replied nonchalantly.

"Yeah, but you're pushing her too far!" Kisame retorted.

Itachi glowered slightly at his partner. Usually, it would intimidate Kisame, recalling the hidden hellacious power of his eyes, but not this time. The younger of males sighed, bringing Nagayoshi to her feet again by circling one of her arms around his shoulders. "We're not having this conversation right now. Our mission is half-finished; you go submit your kill to the client, I'll take Nagayoshi back to the inn."

"Tch. Whatever." Kisame grunted. He hauled the body over his shoulder and dashed off to the different direction. Even though she was still in shock, Nagayoshi managed to cooperate with Itachi on their way back to the inn.

**|-oOo-|**

Kakuzu's medical salve really helped a lot in killing the pain and infection happening on Nagayoshi's thigh. It stung somewhat like a bee, but its job in regenerating damaged tissue was highly exceptional. An hour after usage, Nagayoshi no longer needed a support to stand. She may walk limply, but she needed not a staff or a cane. She also applied the same salve on her cheek and covered it with a large band-aid. She looked over at Itachi, who was lying down on the bigger bed in their room, from head to toe.

Spotless.

She got a little jealous at that, but she wasn't surprised. Itachi did almost nothing but chasing, commanding and running. The hard work were given to Kisame, while she only chased, hold Gaikotsu down and…cower.

She bit her lower lip uneasily. She plumped her pillow, pulled the covers and went to sleep. "G'night, Itachi." she said, even though she knew Itachi was probably deep in his reverie. Her eyes didn't immediately shut themselves after she lay down on the bed that was previously laid by Kisame. She stared at the ceiling, dimly lit by a streak of light coming from the window. She grimaced at the sudden flash of memory of Gaikotsu's painful screaming as Kisame sawed his arm off using his unusually-looking sword. She shut her eyes, her mind telling her to breathe calmly and slowly. She shifted to the side and closed her eyes, hoping she could forget everything the next morning.

_But there was a parade._

A blade—a blade that seemed familiar to Nagayoshi, but she couldn't remember—was in her hand. She just stared at it, wondering how it could end up in her hand in the first place. As she stared at the blade, she also stared at her own hand. She blinked. Was it just her or was her hand looked two centimeters smaller? That and her jacket; the jacket she was wearing was supposed to be worn out and burned on some parts. This one…was still good (though not new). She looked at her feet. Navy blue sandals and not boots. At which point, she realized that she was shrinking in size and age.

"Yeah, you. I want you to kill." said a deep bass voice. A voice Nagayoshi knew too well. She whisked her head up, seeing her brother holding down a crying man.

Nagayoshi just stood, not knowing what to do or what to say. It was so bizarre. Everything was just so bizarre. Then the man cried harder, trying to flee from Kakuzu's grasp by squirming, but to no avail. His eyes then met hers poignantly. Nagayoshi just stared at the man in bewilderment. He said things, pleas, to her with eyes full of running tears. His ears and cheeks flushing red with despair and his mouth trembled as he spoke. At the end, he said this: "Think of what your parents will say when they see you like this."

Nagayoshi gasped and her eyes widened dramatically. Parents? What did she know about her parents? She had no certain sentiments towards them, why should she care of what they think? Yet, it was so persuading. Nagayoshi, for some reason, thought about her parents. To know who they are, where they live, how they look like, who their names are…suddenly, it was all intriguing. She looked up, to her brother, adoptive brother, to be precise.

His jade eyes shot sternly at her. Coldness blew from it. It was terrifying; Nagayoshi found discomfort being stared like that by her own brother. Then his mask moved slightly and his bass voice once again droned, "Do it."

Her arms just swung slowly upwards on its own, the blade held like an ice pick. She gasped, tried to prevent her arm from swinging downwards. She tried to hold it with her other arm, but the other won't move. She thought this was how it felt to be Sasori's puppet. Her eyes shifted frantically to the man in front. He, too, was staring at her with much fear, only he feared death not giving death. In a blink of an eye and everything changed in silence. There was no scream…

_But her world was smothered in red._

A little shaking, Nagayoshi's eyes snapped open. She was still in bed, body a few centimeters taller and her footwear was bigger. She rolled on her bed, facing the ceiling again. One of her arms crossed over her forehead, resting there for a moment or two. She exhaled, somewhat in despair. "Shit…. Not again…" she whispered to herself. She rose from the bed and just sat on the bed for a while. She looked at Itachi again.

The teenager still hadn't move.

Thinking that she needed some fresh air, she wore her boot sandals. She slowly stood, careful of the prehistoric bite mark on her thigh. It didn't hurt as much anymore, which was good, because she was going to hang out on the roof of the inn. She grabbed her jacket, knowing that the desert night was the exact opposite to desert day. She spotted her travelling bag and took an apple from it. That should help her. She glanced to Itachi again, hoping he wouldn't notice her departure. Convinced, she walked out of the room, slightly limping.

Little did she know that Itachi was actually aware of her departure. In fact, Itachi wasn't at all asleep. He just lay down and closed his eyes to restore his energy, but not asleep. He heard her footsteps getting further from where he was. Once she was out of the room, he opened both of his eyes. He looked at the door while his mind was somewhere else. To be more precise, towards the single bed beside him, a few minutes ago. What happened back there? Why did she sound so flustered? What kind of dream did she have?

As his mind wondered, the door clicked. He raised one eyebrow, half-expecting it was Nagayoshi. Yet the one who came in was twice bigger than the girl. His partner, Kisame.

Kisame blinked, finding Itachi staring at him intently as he entered. He just shrugged it off and went off to the bathroom to clean up after the kill. He didn't want bloodstain to sit forever on his cloak, even though it was black. When he got out, chest bare and ready to sleep again, he found Itachi now standing, his arms crossed. Obviously, he was waiting for him.

"We need to talk." Itachi said.

**|-oOo-|**

Nagayoshi knew she couldn't rely on food to make her feelings better. It was just a runaway or a distraction from what she was feeling. And she was glad she brought apple with her. For the whole twenty-five minutes sitting on the roof of the inn, her thoughts kept drifting on the nauseating images of her first experience of ending one's life on her own accord. She remembered about killing a person way back before the one using the blade, but the memory was sort of a blur. She couldn't even remember how it exactly happened. She did remember the heat blasting straight to her face, yet the source of the heat didn't touch nor hurt her. Plus, just before Ryouken died, Kakuzu said something about doing something again: calling the lightning.

She thrust her arm skywards, generating as many chakras as possible. She shut her eyes, hoping to hear roar of a thunder somewhere. Thirty seconds…and none. She pulled back her chakra and stared at her hand hopelessly. She then gazed the sky; it was cloudless. She sighed out loud and hugged her knees together. "What's the use of a great power when you don't know how to use it?" she asked herself. She looked at the cleanly eaten apple, twirling it around just merely see it. She lowered it down and the image from earlier came. Kisame…and the other side of him.

She winced. She buried her face between her knees, cursing herself silently. She wondered, _how could he and Oniisan stand killing in such a sadistic way? I even remember hearing them chuckle. It's like…it's a fun thing to do…_ She ruffled her hair, disturbed with all these thoughts. She couldn't blame neither Kakuzu nor Kisame for this derange of thought. It was her; she couldn't stand sadism in the first place. Her jaws tightened, her fists clenched, and she hissed, "Damn it." The tightened muscles loosened soon after as he muttered, "Sorry, Katana, I still can't get used to this…"

She dropped the eaten apple to a trash bin below, on the streets. She slowly walked back to the room, feeling sleepy and calm enough. She winced at one point, due to the pain caused by the wound on her thigh. She only needed an adjustment with the way she walked and then she had no problems whatsoever with it. The corridor of the floor where her room was located was silent. If only she was younger and wasn't raised by Kakuzu, she would have cried on the spot because it looked like typical haunted site. Nevertheless, she walked casually, looking at doors to make sure she didn't miss her room and entered the wrong one.

Finding the correct room, she put her hand on the handle but was stopped by sounds. "For god's sake, Itachi-san, she's just twelve!" Kisame was back, and now he and Itachi were arguing. She decided to listen. Kisame just said 'she'; they were talking about her.

"And what difference does that make? She killed people before when she was _younger_. What difference does showing her excessive blood display makes with teaching her to kill?" Itachi retorted, his voice was clearly heard. It both amazed and puzzled Nagayoshi; she never expected Itachi could project his voice in such loud volume.

"For your information, there is a difference. Nagayoshi never killed anyone by beheading them. Kakuzu told me that." Kisame retorted. He too; Kisame usually was so emotionally stable, somehow even too friendly to be a criminal.

"Well, that settles things up for me. That was what drives me to force her in the first place."

"You have no idea what it feels like looking at such horror in such a young age!" Kisame stated heatedly.

"You think I don't know?!" Itachi's pitch spiked up drastically. "You think I don't know how it feels like to—"

The door knob turned; Itachi held his argument on place and turned towards the door at the same time with Kisame. They both froze, seeing that the girl they were arguing about entered the room while they were still in the middle of the argument. Moreover, Nagayoshi's face was unreadable. She showed this blank face that even Itachi—the master of face-reading—had a hard time to decipher. To him, she looked surprised, or upset, or…she just had no desire to show her emotions.

The door was closed, yet the atmosphere was still as awkward. Her eyes flew to Kisame, causing the azure-colored ninja to gulp. The men waited…

"Oh, Kisame, you're back!" Nagayoshi chirped; a smile crossed her lips. Kisame and Itachi just stared at each other as she continued, "I heard your voice outside. I knew it was you after all." She chuckled, walking past both of them and climbed to the single bed she slept on earlier before taking a night walk. "Well, be seeing you tomorrow morning! G'night!"

Kisame stared blankly at the girl then to his partner. Itachi closed his eyes for a while and said, "How much did you hear, Nagayoshi?"

With Nagayoshi's back facing them, they couldn't tell what expression she pulled. However, her long pause before answering convinced them that she was caught in the middle of her act. She faced the men, a few seconds later, looking genuinely confused. "Hear what? I only heard muffled talking, is all." she answered and went back to sleep.

"Seriously, Nagayoshi." Kisame said. "Did you hear us arguing?"

Again, no answer.

"We understand if that hurts you. So, say something to us." Kisame added.

Nagayoshi's previously sleeping figure rose from the bed, her face was still facing the other way. Slowly, she turned her head, now with her expression more sincere. Her eyebrows were pulled backwards; her mouth was not smiling nor grinning. She sighed, "I didn't hear all of it, but enough to know that you guys were fussing about my…phobia." She looked at her friends. They looked quite concerned, even Itachi—whose face was usually hard to read—openly showed his concerns. Kisame was about to say something when she spoke ahead of him, "It's okay, guys, I know you just trying to teach me something new. Well, everybody's different, right? I can't expect you all to behave like my brother, right?"

With a last smile, she returned to bed. Itachi decided to let the subject go and returned to bed himself. The only one still standing was Kisame, staring at the youngest of the group. Somehow, he couldn't just let it go and forget it. He needed to make sure the truthfulness behind her words.

Somewhat reading his mind, Nagayoshi turned around, smiling softly. "Kisame…" she whispered. Kisame walked closer towards her, leaning down so he could hear what she was about to say. "What I said is true. You don't have to worry about it too much. I asked for it, anyway. I wanted to get away from this fear."

"I don't blame you if it's hard to get used to it. Wasn't easy for me either." Kisame answered. He smiled a little but it soon disappeared, triggering Nagayoshi to raise an eyebrow up. Kisame noticed her sign of confusion and shook his head. "Nah, I guess you ain't seeing me the same way again, huh? You know, since you saw me getting into this killing frenzy."

"I think that's normal." Nagayoshi answered. Kisame's eyes expanded a little. "That happens a lot too with Kakuzu-niisan. Yours is just a little bit different because you laughed a lot. It makes you sound…psychotic."

Kisame snorted and chuckled, trying not to get too loud for it might disrupt Itachi, although he guessed that Itachi was just playing asleep. "Psychotic, huh? I wonder how you describe Kakuzu's killing side."

Nagayoshi scowled and turned her head away. "Not gonna tell you. I know you're gonna make a joke out of it."

"Haha…sleep tight, kiddo." Kisame said, his large blue hand patted her head before he went to the larger bed, beside Itachi. He turned off the side lamp and shut his eyes, relieved that Nagayoshi didn't hate him.

**|-oOo-|**

"We could use a little bit more speed, you know. The base's only twelve miles away." Kisame whined. Both he and Itachi were turning their bodies to face Nagayoshi who was limping behind them.

"Shut up! I don't want to open the wounds again." Nagayoshi retorted.

"It's been four days! It's fine already! You use your brother's healing salve every time we stop for a break!"

Nagayoshi's eye twitched. "What's the rush, anyway?!" she roared back.

Itachi, on the verge of slapping his own forehead, spotted a white bird flying above his head. He blinked, wondering why the bird was flying so close to him and, moreover, why did it have a loud flapping sound? It only took his brain a nanosecond to figure what that was. "Konan's messenger bird." he muttered.

Kisame turned briskly, rapidly putting aside his petty arguments with Nagayoshi and focused on the same flying object his partner was currently gazing seriously at. Nagayoshi had an eyebrow up and jogged to their spot. If only Kisame saw her took off, he would pointed out that she was indeed just fine. Nagayoshi asked, "What's up with Konan's messenger bird? What's so different with Pein-sama's?"

"It means something is going on back at the base." Kisame said, lifting an arm to let the paper bird perched on his hand. He brought it down as low as his chest.

The bird opened its mouth and a voice came out. _"Kisame, Itachi, Nagayoshi!"_

"Hey, it's Oniisan's voice!" Nagayoshi exclaimed. Itachi shushed her so they could let the message finish.

_"Pein-sama's down!"_

* * *

**Whooooaaa!!! Cliffhangers, everybody! I told you this is a special chapter to celebrate the 20th (21 + the prologue) chapter achievement. Expect to get the same thing for the 40th. If this story should ever get that far… Oh, and…it's exactly 20 MS Word pages!! I didn't plan this, I swear!**

**I fail in writing non-crack Itachi. But, no fear for me, this isn't the time for Itachi to shine yet (at least not in Bird Cloth…). Writing Kisame seemed to be quite fun ^_^ He's as mysterious as Kakuzu so there's just a lot of gaps I can fill in for him. I always think that Kisame is actually a nice guy. As for Itachi…he's noble! The last part of Kisame and Nagayoshi in the inn room was so fluffy! XDD Although I sort of feel like it's biased by my Kisame fanaticism.**

**News flash! You can follow me on Twitter now! (Shamelessly self-promoting) Check on my profile and you'll find the link there. Pay attention to my username! BAHAHA!! Most of the time, it'll be about my daily life ranting (I don't tweet every day, so relax) but I will use it to announce my stories update too so that you readers who are not members can always stick with the story updates. Isn't that cool? Well, you can always use the CSS reader if you have no Twitter (or you're already subscribed to the story.)**

**_Kutai Gunsha: Tsudou = _**_Skeleton Tank: Assemble**  
Isonade No Dageki =**Stroke of Isonade_

_Next: "Pein-sama's down!" said Kakuzu. What does he mean by that? What is actually going on? The most controversial Akatsuki issue is up next!_


	23. Treachery

**Chapter 22: Treachery**

It had been a week.

It had been a week ever since Kakuzu last saw his talking/fighting/sharing partner and also sibling. Initially, he thought that a day or two without Nagayoshi would be somewhat a peaceful time. Well, it was, until he realized that the world was too silent for his standards and Erai's incapability to speak made it worse. Kakuzu may hate chatty people like Ryouken, but he had to admit that he needed sounds in his life too, especially when it sounded 'ka-ching!'

Kakuzu also remembered how suspension felt like. It even surprised him; he hadn't gotten suspended for nearly thirteen years, which was exactly the time Ryouken and his younger brother first joined the organization. Even after killing his deceased partner's brother, he wasn't suspended because it was the will of Ryouken's brother. In his room, sitting before his working table, he massaged his eyebrows and sighed.

Things were so messed up lately and nobody could agree more. This mess brought him to a thinking circle: what if what happened to Ryouken happened to him? What if someone killed his sister—again? He had lost a sister once, back when he was just a teenager. That time, he failed to avenge the killer because law had done it before he could. But now, since he had no ties with any villages at all, if he wanted revenge, he had to get it himself. _"I thought you had let it go!"_ he said that to Ryouken. He scoffed bitterly to himself. He wasn't thinking when he said that.

Kakuzu pushed himself out of the cage made of wooden table and an office chair. He got up to his feet and headed outside, taking a turn to the kitchen and stopped before the refrigerator. He thought maybe a can of beer could relax his mind, so he took one, opened it, and chugged down the fizzy content. He stood around; leaning to a wall and quietly drank. The silence, however, didn't last long. Less than a minute afterwards, he heard someone walking towards perhaps the same room as he. He continued drinking; thinking that guessing and bidding the person coming was a waste of time.

"Ah, Kakuzu-san…" a white-haired young man greeted him with a small smile. Kakuzu only let out a quick 'Hn' and ignored the boy. Yet, his eyes soon came back observing him. White hair, small and suspicious smile, and polite gestures…this boy—Kabuto, as Sasori told him—reminded him of this boy back in Kumogakure who used to have a crush on Nagayoshi, minus the glasses. What was his name again? He couldn't remember. Although he remembered meeting the boy's cousin and let Ryouken had some fun time together with him.

He watched Kabuto taking a small tray and a cup. He then filled the cup with hot water and made a cup of green tea. Kakuzu kept his face straight, but in his mind he was wondering why would Kabuto need a tray if he was making tea for himself. He felt he shouldn't, but alas, he asked, "Are you making tea for someone?"

"Konan-sama asked me. She asked me to make a cup of tea for Pein-sama." Kabuto answered. He smiled, Kakuzu tried to remember that particular friend of Nagayoshi again. "Pein-sama said my tea is the best he had ever tasted. I think I make Konan-sama jealous with that, though."

"Don't sweat it, kid. She just doesn't like seeing the image of guys making a better housewife than girls." Kakuzu replied.

Kabuto laughed heartily. "Am I good housewife, then?"

Kakuzu didn't force a laugh, but a smirk should tell Kabuto that he was indeed joking. He raised an eyebrow. "Are you seriously going to put sugar in it?" he asked, pointing at the teaspoon Kabuto dug into the sugar pot.

"Uh, why?"

"Pein-sama isn't really a fan of sugared green tea." Kakuzu answered. "Don't ask me how I know it. I've been here for ages."

"Oh, thanks for the tip, Kakuzu-san. See you later." Kabuto said before he left with the tray on his hands. He smiled to Kakuzu, who just nod at it. As his figure disappeared behind the wall, Kakuzu heard him say, "Good day, Sasori-sama."

"Hey, kid." Sasori replied and soon he appeared in front of Kakuzu's eyesight. He looked to Kakuzu and turned to where his subordinate went. "Why does he have a cup of tea on a tray in his hands?" he asked.

"Leader's request." Kakuzu answered lazily, throwing the beer can to the trash bin with downright accuracy. "Okay, gotta go back to work. I have to go to Leader's office later for the monthly reports."

Sasori sneered, "Suspension doesn't include your official position, huh?"

"In your dreams."

**|-oOo-|**

"Konan-sama, here's Pein-sama's tea he asked." Kabuto handed the tray to Konan's more delicate hands.

Konan nodded. "Thank you, Kabuto. You may go. I'll take it from here."

Kabuto bowed slightly with respect. At the same time as his departure, Konan headed to the opposite way, going through a door beside Pein's office's entrance. She lonely ventured around the human-shaped tower, going through stairs and elevated floors to finally reach the top storey of the tower. There was a dead-end on the top floor, but that was only for other people. Papers furled at Konan's presence and let her in to a confidential and poorly lit room. Small openings were available on the ceiling enabling the process of breathing and air circulation in the room.

Konan's usually stone face melted once she entered the secret chamber. She made a small yet soft smile as she walked towards a small table propped beside a gargantuan walking apparatus. Sitting inside it, was a man with scarlet hair. The man was skinny, his naked chest enabled anybody (in this case, so far, was only Konan) to see his ribs. His eyes bore the same shade as the Akatsuki's leader. That was…because he _is _the leader, the real body.

"Here you go, Nagato." Konan said tenderly, gently putting the tea cup on the small table. "Don't push yourself, okay?" Konan stepped back and waited for a while.

"Thank you, Konan. You should go back to the base." Nagato answered.

Konan's eyes turned downcast. "Sure." She turned around, going back to where she was supposed to be. Before she exited through the same secret, knob-less door, she stole a last glance backwards, to her childhood friend. Frowning slightly, her presence was gone from the room.

Nagato almost felt guilty he treated his old friend like that. He just so deep in his job lately, he couldn't balance his work-self and casual-self. He glanced to the table beside his walking apparatus. He let himself smile a little. Well, yes, it wasn't Konan's brewing, but it still delighted him to see Konan ever so motherly handed him a cup of tea he enjoyed the most during his work times. Releasing one hand from the control tube, he reached down to get his warm beverage. He smelled the relaxing aroma of hot water and tea leaves, sighed, and carefully touched his lips with the liquid. He took small sips since the tea was still burning hot. Once the liquid traveled through his body, he couldn't help but moan with pleasure.

The moaning was soon replaced by grunting. Nagato then hacked and coughed; the cup dropped to the wooden floor and shattered into pieces. His upper half of his body fell to the front of the machine as he kept coughing. Something was wrong with the tea…it made him weak.

It was then he noticed someone was walking towards him, chuckling.

**|-oOo-|**

The God Realm was enjoying the sight of rain falling on a flower pot Konan had purposely placed outside the window. His real self was unable to see many things in his secret chamber, so to him, just to see simple things like this delighted him. His enjoyment was disrupted by a couple of knocks. He turned his chair, facing the table and the door, to see Konan entering his office with his oldest men in Akatsuki. Without further ado, Kakuzu handed the leader three sheets of paper full of his old-fashioned writing style.

Pein skimmed over the three papers. His mind was constantly amazed by Kakuzu's speed of working and the accuracy of his sums. It was just a simple math for the masked ninja. But not only that, the fact that he could summarize hundreds of notes and bills within less than three days was always amazing. The results were more impressive.

"But…Kakuzu, it's actually decreasing. This month's expense is actually decreasing." Pein commented, his eyes locked on a trail of numbers.

"I know. I guess my killing act isn't really a downfall, after all, eh? But, forget about it, at the same time as our expenses decrease, so does our incomes. With me out of the bounty range, we won't—" Kakuzu stopped himself. Behind him, Konan was about to stop him too. Both his eyes and Konan's were sharply directed to Pein and his sudden strange behavior.

He didn't move, and that was why.

Kakuzu waved his hand in front of the leader's blanked out face. He bent down to meet his face, hoping to startle the younger man with the deadly close distance. Nonetheless, nothing; Pein was as still as a statue. Kakuzu's eyebrows furrowed. "Is that how he sleeps?" Kakuzu asked, turning his head to Konan. He blinked and his heart thumped brusquely for a brief second.

Konan froze, eyes bulging with terror. Not a good sign.

"Nagato!" she gasped sharply and turned to dash off to her friend's secret chamber. She let Kakuzu follow her, knowing his availability might come in handy.

Kakuzu's feeling was right; things were messed up lately.

**|-oOo-|**

"Pein-sama…no—Nagato…" That hissy diabolical voice echoed in the dimly-lit room's walls. The red-haired male coughed, trying to push himself from leaning against the machine that supported his legs. His ringed eyes shot sternly to the source of the voice, animus discharged immensely and intensely.

Coughing still, the true face of Pein hissed menacingly, "Orochimaru…you…!" He coughed again, harder this time, saliva dripping from his mouth. "It was you…you poisoned my drink!" Nagato snarled.

Orochimaru chuckled deviously. His slim eyes narrowed as amusement overwhelmed his acidic heart. "Well, the poisoning _is _my idea, but I wasn't the one who made the poison. I have a partner who helped me." he answered, stepping towards Nagato, fearless of his weak state.

Managed to at least lift his head up, Nagato glowered at the approaching long-haired male. "Sasori helped you?!" he snapped weakly.

Orochimaru burst out into derisive, hoarse, and devilish laughter. "Oh, for heaven's sake! That arrogant bastard—helped me?" he sneered, "That would need a serious mental depravation for him to actually lend me a hand willingly." Orochimaru rolled his eyes before he smirked impishly again. "I have a secret helper…and it's not a member."

Nagato started to fall; his coughing episodes grew worse as the poison gained the upper hand. "A subordinate?! Which one?" Nagato, however, still have the power to bellow.

"Don't blame the poor girl, dear Leader." Orochimaru opened his mouth, wide. A moss green python appeared from the depths of his throat and halfway out, the snake's mouth unfurled from which a samurai sword emerged along with the reptile's saliva. "Your lousy leadership, pathetic goals, and worthless choices of action will end; right here, right now." he said, grabbing the blade from the snake's mouth.

He raised the weapon high, its sharp edge pointing downwards, aiming at Nagato's skull. The corner of his thin lips tugged with confidence. The skinny, defenseless man could only glare with eyes half-powered. "No worries. When I meet your old master, I won't tell him that you're alive. Well, you're not going to, anyway. Sayonara, _Pein_."

"Nagato!!!" Konan screamed, barging through the door that was made of her papers. Without knobs and high invisibility level, no one but her should be able to enter. Her eyes widened in horror, seeing the sword was swerving at her friend's head. "No!" she shouted frantically, her hands thrust forward, but her legs failed to make an effort to save Nagato.

The sword landed with a clang and Orochimaru grumbled at the intervention caused by Kakuzu, whose arms were congealed like titanium. Despite the shattering impact, Orochimaru's sword remained in one piece. The threads keeping Kakuzu's arms together untied rapidly. Several threads shot at the pale-skinned ninja. Orochimaru hopped back, snakes from his sleeves countered Kakuzu's threads. Behind the masked ninja, Nagato had finally lost control of his consciousness. Fortunately for him, Konan was there to aid him.

She sharply turned to Orochimaru. "Why are you doing this, Orochimaru?" she demanded wrathfully.

"Simple; I want to destroy Konoha—my home village." he answered, opening his arms to accentuate his passion of fulfilling his desire.

"Then why do you need to kill Nagato?"

"Because he's the leader of this organization. He could just send me to Konoha any time but he didn't. My hands are getting itchy of waiting! I want to destroy that petty village! I've begged, demanded, and even bribed him to let me go and break loose, but _he never let me!_ I don't know what he has in mind. Amegakure is not joining forces with Konoha, then why should he just sit around and drink green tea? With him out of the way and I become the leader, we'll conquer the world in no time. You don't need money as a reason to wage war; you don't need ideas and views to rule the world. Power alone is enough!" Orochimaru clamped his hands together as his speech ended and in a blink of an eye, he had already finished a stream of hand seals and tapped one hand to the floor.

"Kakuzu, get down!" Konan shouted. As Orochimaru launched his jutsu, a thick wall of paper guarded Konan, Kakuzu, and Nagato from falling debris. The three ninjas were unharmed, but not the tower. A twelve foot snake overgrew and destructed the ceiling, causing heavy rain to pour inside the not-so-secret-anymore chamber. To protect the weak Nagato from getting wet, she enhanced her barrier with water-proof paper.

The giant snake barraged at the wall, forcing the blue-haired woman to add more chakra to her defense line. Kakuzu turned to her. "Open it. Let me handle the snake." he said. Konan nodded. Lifting a hand, a small portion of the barrier unfolded, letting Kakuzu to immediately propel a meteoric fist. Kakuzu knew the snake was just a few feet away in front of the paper wall and he knew the reptile would shoot its head at the opening. With his punch launched on time, he successfully shattered the snout of the snake, killing it instantly.

He heard a husky attacking bellow and saw a rain of smaller snakes above him. He jumped away and smashed or stepped on some snakes whenever he could. A pale-handed punch almost crushed his nose should he fail to block it. Kakuzu threw a punch of his own, but his was blocked by Orochimaru's other hand. Each individual were unwilling to lose; they locked their fists and position.

"You're the oldest member here, Kakuzu." Orochimaru began. "Don't you feel it's time to move to the next level? Huh? Don't you think conquering the world is a nice thing to do? You can get all the money you want." he bribed.

"Well, yeah, it's always such an intriguing offer. But I ain't gonna do it with you, slobber face!" Kakuzu retorted snappily.

"What a surprise, Kakuzu. You do actually have a sense of loyalty." Orochimaru continued, sneering.

"I've worked with you before, Orochimaru. You're the type of leader that I don't like. You lack planning and logical thinking; I ain't having an idiot for a boss." He added force to his arms; Orochimaru's footing dragged slightly. "Now get lost!"

Orochimaru grunted, not strong enough against Kakuzu's raw physical power. Yet, he could still keep his devilish smirk on. "Lack planning, eh?" he asked; a tone of chicanery slithered as his tongue lolled out of his mouth, to Kakuzu's disgust. "Fine, I'll get lost. But you won't mind me stealing a companion, will you?"

Much to the snaky ninja's delight, Kakuzu flashed in dither. His thick black mask concealed the gritted teeth beneath. "Don't bring her into this, you bastard!" he growled.

Orochimaru chuckled jubilantly and opened his mouth wide. The snake resting inside his trachea torpedoed out and attacked Kakuzu with its flexible jaws. Its poisonous fangs pierced through the seams and to the masked ninja's shoulder. Not just that, it sent Kakuzu shooting across the room to the mountain of debris. Groaning due to the sharp ends puncturing his back with such force, he pushed himself to sit up. The snake was still sticking to his shoulder; luckily, since Kakuzu's skin was still in rock mode, it couldn't deliver its venom to his blood. Ruthlessly, he yanked the snake off. Its long fangs decided to hook to his shirt and as it was pulled off, the shirt ripped partially, revealing a portion of Kakuzu's stitched chest.

The snake lord scowled. He put his hands together. "Only one snake that has fangs strong enough to pierce through stone…"

Even before Orochimaru had the chance to start forming the summoning seal, an invisible yet audible force lambasted the snake lord crashing through a wall and falling downwards. The child-like figure of Erai entered hurriedly. He heard crashes and explosions from Pein's tower and from outside, he saw the tower was nearly leveled down by a snake. He ran to the tower and found the Pein whose face he knew too well frozen on the spot. He, thence, followed the source of the sound which led him up to a room he never saw before. It was then he made his entrance. He looked around, seeing what Orochimaru had done to the place and saw Konan's protective barrier and Kakuzu struggling to stand.

"Don't let him get away!" Kakuzu shouted warningly.

Erai nodded and quickly followed Orochimaru who was making an escape outside the raining village of Amegakure. Kakuzu watched as the dwarf ninja hounded the snake ninja until his eyes could barely see them anymore. He approached Konan and the passed out Nagato. "Sasori should know how to counter-react the poison. Compared to me, he's better when it comes to poisons. We'll take Pein-sama to his room. And…" he trailed off, taking a short pause as he lifted an arm of Nagato and slung it around his neck. Konan did the similar with the other arm. "Itachi's group needs to be informed. Urgently."

It didn't take long for them to take Nagato to Sasori's room. When Sasori opened his door and found two of his comrades seeking for help on someone he didn't recognize, he nearly refused. Thankfully, Konan's emotional face convinced him to let them in, despite that he actually disliked people other than him entering his room. He skillfully diagnosed Nagato and within short moments, he had already figured out the poison tainting Nagato's blood.

"It is a deadly poison, alright, but it works very slowly. I think Orochimaru is trying to kill this man—"

"Dude, that man is Pein-sama. Or, at least, who was behind the curtain." Kakuzu cut him off. Sasori froze for a moment; if it wasn't a serious situation, Kakuzu would laugh at Sasori.

"Whatever…" Sasori continued. "As I was saying, I think Orochimaru is trying to kill him with his own hands, or trying to make his death slow and painful." Sasori concluded.

"Actually, he was. He extracted Kusanagi and was about to cut his head half."

"Just tell me that you can heal him!" Konan plead. For once in a lifetime, Kakuzu and Sasori saw Konan with her eyes starting to get wet.

"It's actually a very basic poison, but if Pein-sama couldn't detect it, then there must be an ingredient added or even altered." Sasori explained as he opened a drawer full of preserved herbs, collected during his travels. "I don't see how Orochimaru was able to do this. He's not a really a poison expert."

"A help, maybe? Did he ever ask you to make a poison for him?" Kakuzu asked.

"No. I won't do it, anyway. Well, I do have the normal version of the poison, but not the scentless one. I guess somebody else made it for him. But it's gonna need a really good medical skill to make it so scentless."

"Medical skill? Whoa, okay, before you guys say anything, I swear it's not me." Kakuzu said.

"I doubt it. You're not a poison expert." Sasori replied, he had already mixed the needed ingredients to make the antidote and was mashing the herbs. At one point, he stopped, eyes narrowed. "That's impossible…" he hissed.

"What?" Konan asked.

"I know someone who can do this! Damn it!" Sasori growled.

"Think about that later!" Kakuzu cut off. "I have to inform Itachi's group. Konan, your voice messenger."

"Right." Konan nodded. She peeled a sheet of paper from the back of her hand. Putting a single hand seal in front of her mouth, the paper lightly exploded in a puff and into a bird. "It's ready. Say your message now."

Kakuzu inhaled deeply. "Kisame! Itachi! Nagayoshi! Pein-sama's down!"

* * *

**I almost postpone this thing for another week. Ideas are running short and so are the days. I've been sick lately, regarding crumbling stomach and unpleasant food discharge. Yeah, you shouldn't have known...**

**Short, but absolutely one of my favorites. It only took me approximately four hours (minus the distractions and social life) to finish this one. Easy. That's because I already have the scene imagined ever since I started out this story. This is one of those events I'm looking forward to write. So far, we haven't really known what Orochimaru's idea was that he had to defect from Akatsuki. Unfortunately, no witty reasons came and it turns out that you won't need witty reasons if you're plain evil like Oreo. So…there!**

**I nearly laugh when Kakuzu said something about Kabuto being a good housewife. Somehow, it came true in the original series, no?**

_Next: Orochimaru battles the younger ninjas singlehandedly. Eventually, he had to face to face with his fellow ex-Konoha ninja as well as one of the strongest members in Akatsuki._


	24. Old Leaf vs New Leaf

**Chapter 23: Old Leaf vs. New Leaf**

**A/N:** **Omigod, people, I'm so sorry for the awful delay! The diarrhea was followed by another week of influenza so I was really in a bad condition these last two months. Now I promise you, I'm much better. That's why...two chapters for today!**

* * *

Only one word that could describe the three's expression (no matter how plain they may look) when they heard Kakuzu's first line of voice message: thunderstruck—even though Nagayoshi was the only one who could possibly survive such a thing.

The message continued: _"Sasori is currently aiding him. Orochimaru poisoned him through his drink and he's now escaped. Erai is in pursuit; now I want the three of you to track Erai and help him. ASAP! And…Nagayoshi…" _Nagayoshi eyed the paper bird carefully, waiting for Kakuzu's message specially directed to her. "_Stay away from Orochimaru. Don't fight him on your own. _Please_. Now the messenger bird should bring you to their position. You should know when you're close."_

The message ended and the messenger bird executed its last duty. It flapped its wings and flew to the sky, keeping its distance not too far from the three Akatsuki. The three of them started running, keeping up with the bird's flight. Nagayoshi's legs had no longer have any problems with moving too much; it had healed quite enough. They didn't spare time to talk, even though they could talk at the same time as running and jumping from tree to tree.

Since they were not too far from the base, soon enough they heard explosions and sounds of rock crumbling. Next, they were forced to cover behind the nearest tree from a blow of shockwaves. Kisame and Itachi stared at each other, face tense, and they nodded. Once they were sure that there was no shockwaves, they resumed running towards the battlefield.

"What was that?" Nagayoshi asked, bewildered. "I've never seen a shockwave like that."

"That's because there's only one person who could create such shockwave." Kisame answered. "It was Erai."

"Erai? I know Kakuzu-niisan said something about he can use sound to attack. But how exactly?"

"That you have to see for yourself." Kisame glanced slightly towards the girl, grinning. "Behold, kid, it's not every day we can see him fight like this."

Nagayoshi's heart thumped with eagerness. Erai was always on solo missions, just like Zetsu. She never knew why and nobody would tell her, even Kakuzu or Kisame. This might be the chance she had been waiting for.

* * *

**|-oOo-|**

Despite having two short legs, but with his weight that light, he could run faster than any other bigger ninjas. Erai may not possess _Shippuujinrai Shunshin_ like Nagayoshi, but his speed shouldn't be underestimated. What his opponents have to fear when they came facing this child-like man was his power that came from his disease. Anybody who saw him for the first time might think that he was a friendly guy and probably quite a pacifist too. Well, they were right. Erai had never had any enemies when he was young. Even though people of Hoshigakure mostly ditched him because they didn't understand his hand language, he never had any intentions to hate them. That was until his house was terrorized and young Erai was desperate to get away. He was captured by kids whose size was bigger than him. Back then, he was a weakling (despite passing the ninja academy) and his height was no taller than a five-year-old. Big kids liked that fact and used that to pick on him. And on that particular day, he was bullied worse than ever. Terrified, young Erai lost control and shouted, even though for just two seconds.

In that two seconds, two-third of Hoshigakure was leveled to the ground, houses flattened. The kids bullying him were catapulted almost fifteen feet in the air and most of them died as they dropped to the earth. People then blinded by the accident and called the poor boy a national threat. He had no choice but to run away from them only then to be found by one of Kakuzu's previous partners. A man, though not mute, that had more or less the same jutsu as he. His mentor was the only Kakuzu's partner that didn't die in the masked ninja's hands so far. As the position for Kakuzu's partner was replaced by Ryouken's younger brother, Erai joined Akatsuki in such a young age. He was highly favored by the leader, Pein, himself.

Akatsuki had been part of Erai's life which he cherished. Therefore, he won't let anyone who had tainted the name of Akatsuki and hurt whoever he felt close to his heart free just like that. He would throw away the 'pacifist' predicate. No more Mister Nice Guy. Orochimaru knew that by now as he tried to flee from the dwarf ninja's chase.

Erai made a couple of hand seals and took a deep breath, his eyes were shooting daggers at Orochimaru as the snake ninja cackled insanely. Without further ado, he blew out his breath through a shout. The hand seals formed earlier enabled him to control where to shoot and how loud can he produce. With his shout only directed to the traitor, Orochimaru was flung far away ahead, falling in a series of tumbling.

The earth shook. Erai jumped to the side, right as a colossal boa made a strike from below. Erai grabbed a kunai and a thin piece of paper with writings made of black ink from his weapons pouch. He rolled the paper around the handle of the kunai and threw it at the snake. The snake opened its mouth, causing the knife to plunge right into it. Still in mid-air, Erai made a series of hand seals and made a deep hum. Despite it was on a very low note, but the vibration of his chakra-blocked throat triggered the black inks on the paper and boom! The boa was no more.

Erai landed safely, watching as the chunks of the mutated giant snake fell to the ground, painting it red. He narrowed his eyes, seeing the purple slim eyes of Orochimaru across the falling carcass. A particularly large boa chunk fell in front of Erai, blocking his view of Orochimaru momentarily. Knowing that the snake lord would use that chance to escape, the dwarf ninja quickly dashed forward. He jumped high, to quickly pass through the falling carcass. Unfortunately, his guess was wrong.

As soon as he was high above the big chunk, a smaller snake torpedoed towards his face. The snake stopped halfway and in the next second, it was the samurai sword that nearly split Nagato's head into two that greeted him instead. Being practically defenseless, the sword went through his chest and through the backbone. Blood dribbled from his mouth; his eyes blanked and opened wide. It was only a matter of seconds until he dangled up there like a shish kebab. Through his sword, Orochimaru could sense the absence of heart beat. He retracted his sword and the snake keeping it back into his mouth. The body of the dwarf ninja mercilessly landed on one of the carcass chunks.

Orochimaru nearly laughed out loud openly, tickled by how easily he defeated Erai simply by a cheap trick. His amusement clearly shown as he sneered at the dead ninja; he stepped confidently towards him. His sneering grew into cackling once he was just a foot away from Erai. With very little mercy, he prodded the dead body with his foot, only to accidentally reveal that the dead body was actually a mass of condensed dust. The snake lord's display of amusement vanished all at once.

A metallic sharp tip pressed his back inwards. It hadn't pierced through his skin yet, but a little extra pressure should do it. Orochimaru needed not to turn around. Only one person who would push a kunai to the opponent's back. He smirked wryly. "Cheap trick versus old trick, huh, Erai-kun?" Orochimaru asked slyly. Erai answered him with a triumphant smirk. Orochimaru looked over his shoulder, still smirking. "Let's see if you can get away with this one!"

Orochimaru swiftly spun around, launching a kunai-equipped fist at Erai. Erai managed to block it, but the surprise caused him to stumble aback a little, messing with his footing balance. Seeing that chance to winning, Orochimaru thrust forward, smiling like an insane clown. Accentuating the smile was his maniacal cackle.

Reflexively, Erai bent backwards, his arms keeping him steady, and saved himself from getting cut by Orochimaru's kunai. But Orochimaru had the upper hand; with that position which wouldn't let Erai grab anything, the snake lord could easily swing his arm on another direction and stab him. Or…so he thought.

Orochimaru's vision blurred, there was a sudden bang to his head. Erai used that chance to roll around and gave Orochimaru a devastating karate chop on the back of his neck. The snake lord was down; Erai kept him that way by putting a foot on his back. Weakly, Orochimaru rotated his head. "What…what did you just do?" he asked; it meant to be menacing, but the effect of the mysterious nausea caused him to—wait, nausea? Orochimaru smirked, "I see…infrasound…"

Smugly, Erai smirked and nodded.

"I know your powers now, Erai-kun." Orochimaru added. "You don't just manipulate sound, you can detect them and are immune to their effects. Marvelous…"

"Erai!" a slightly heavy feminine voice called the dwarf ninja's name. Erai whipped his head, expecting to see one of his closest friends. It didn't take long for her and her two companions to arrive at the scene. He quickly noticed the jumbo-sized band-aid on her cheek. He wondered what could have happened.

Kisame got to his place first, looking down at Orochimaru scornfully. He laughed, "Look at you, Orochimaru! You sure are getting rusty at this, aren't you?"

"Laugh all you like, Kisame, but I'll rise again soon enough." Orochimaru retorted.

The blue-skinned ninja snorted. "Oh, please…you can't even stand." he taunted.

"Is that so, Kisame?" Orochimaru smirked foxily. After that sentence, Orochimaru dispersed into small white snakes, to Kisame and Erai's surprise.

"Hey! Let me go!" Nagayoshi shouted. Her exclamation triggered Erai and Kisame to turn briskly and found their youngest friend squirming to get free with both of her hands held behind her back. Both men braced their weapon and voice, but Orochimaru used the young girl as a shield.

"Ah-ah-ah…" he crooned deceitfully. "Attack me and she'll die with me. Then Kakuzu had no choice but to satisfy his rage on you two. Heh, that's a nice chaos for this organization. You too, Itachi." he glanced over his shoulder, catching Itachi sneaking up behind him. "One single movement and my snakes will change her blood into acid."

"You fight like a coward, Orochimaru! Release her!" Kisame bellowed.

"For your information, Kisame, I was never a warrior type. I am the evil genius type. I shall do anything as long it means taking me closer to my desired goals. If keeping a girl as a hostage is one way, then I don't see why the hell not." Orochimaru replied self-assuredly. "Who needs sportive playing anyway?"

"Huh, you're right." Nagayoshi all of a sudden added, much to the men's surprise. Erai blinked profusely and Orochimaru raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Who needs to play fair?"

Orochimaru smirked, feeling his ego boosting up a little, seeing that someone got his point of view of doing things. "You agree with me?"

"Like you said: why the hell not?" Nagayoshi looked up, staring into Orochimaru's purple snake-like eyes. There was a small smirk crossing on her latte-colored face.

"Little girl, are you trying to trick me using a bunshin while getting me distracted with your agreement?"

"It won't work on you, I know it already. Bunshin is an outdated idea."

"You got some sense, girl."

Nagayoshi smiled innocently. "I learned from the best. Who needs bunshin—when you got _this!_" Nagayoshi pushed her feet and somersaulted, using her shoulder joints as the support for her balance. She locked her legs around Orochimaru's neck—one on the back of the head, the other on the front—twisted her wrists in a way that it was her hands that caught his wrists instead of the other way around. Moving her hips, she did another somersault, but stronger than the previous for it carried Orochimaru with her and slammed him to the ground with a ground-fracturing crash. She stood on both of her hands and then to her feet as Orochimaru groaned in pain. With much satisfaction, Nagayoshi clapped her hands together, cleaning them from dust.

Kisame and Erai gaped. "Where did you learn to move like that?" Kisame asked, flabbergasted.

"Like I said: I learned from the best." Nagayoshi answered with a smile.

"Who might that be? Me?" Kisame asked again. Nagayoshi laughed and punched his arm playfully, Kisame laughed along too.

"If we're finished, then we should take him back to the base." Itachi interjected. Kisame, Erai, and Nagayoshi nodded.

Kisame volunteered to carry Orochimaru's knocked out body, since he was the only person who could do the job with one hand. But as he bent down to grab his collar, yet another colossal snake emerged out. Kisame yanked his hand back as quickly as he could before the snake could consume it. Way behind Itachi, Orochimaru dug out of his safety pit and ran away, once again laughing like a maniac. Itachi quickly pursued the snake ninja, saying quickly, "I'll go after him! You guys take care of the giant snake!"

"Wait, Itachi!" Nagayoshi shouted after him. She was about to take off to go after Itachi, but Kisame's hand held her arm. "But, Kisame!" she protested.

"He can handle him alone. Itachi-san's stronger than you think. Anyway…" Kisame said, turning towards the bigger problem that was currently having an eye-to-eye fight with Erai, "this one could really use extra people to kick its ass."

Erai put one fist in his other hand and crushed it slightly, creating several crackling sound. Kisame laughed, "Well, it's Orochimaru, alright. All he could come up with is snakes."

"He really lives up to his name, huh?" Nagayoshi commented.

The snake hissed—with size that big, the hiss sounded more like a snarl. It launched forward, its mouth opened wide, enough for even the tall Kisame to get in cleanly in one gulp. The tall blue ninja grabbed both smaller ones on the collar and hopped backwards. Nagayoshi hacked at the sudden and ruthless attempt of rescuing. She was about to complain about it when she saw Erai skillfully climb onto Kisame's shoulders, stood on it and created a series of hand seals in a speed Nagayoshi didn't expect he could do.

"Whenever you're ready, Chibi 1." Kisame said.

Even without needed to be told, Erai was ready. He took a soundless deep breath, collecting and shaping the chakra that made his disease to form the jutsu he desired. Erai opened his mouth and a booming vocal torrent of bass notes, accompanied with earth-shaking shockwaves, lambasted the gigantic snake, tossing it backwards easily. The shockwave was like a wind storm that only lasted a second; Nagayoshi had to grab onto Kisame's cloak to keep her from flying.

The snake landed with a boom, causing other animals to flee away and dirt to hover in the air. With much effort, the snake came back to its belly-crawling position. Its tongue stuck out and in, smelling its prey. It could feel the three of them; one of them…was on top of its head. It was inaudible, invisible, and untouchable, yet, the effect was inevitable. The snake felt nauseous, its head began to waver a little. It screeched in pain and slithered to the forest, in hopes the queasiness would cease. But it failed to know that as long as Erai adhered his feet to its scale, the nausea would never disappear unless the dwarf ninja said otherwise.

Infrasound emanation was the easiest sound jutsu for Erai to use. The chakra needed was minim, even when he needed to generate a great amount of it, and he needed not to open his mouth. Plus, since infrasound was inaudible to humans, it was the most undetectable. But, concurrently, he must keep his distance from his teammates for the effects may affect them too. He stopped emanating the infrasound and gave both Kisame and Nagayoshi a thumb-up.

"Ready, Nagayoshi?" Kisame asked, grinning at the young kunoichi. His hands were in front of him, ready to create hand seals.

"Ready!" Nagayoshi replied.

"_Suikodan No Jutsu!_" Kisame shouted and water gushed out of his mouth. The small upstream tsunami washed the serpent thoroughly, causing it to tumble once more due to the force the water stream gave onto its body. Erai jumped as far away as he could, avoiding from getting wet, because he knew he won't just get wet. He could die. Kisame cut his jutsu and stepped back a little. "Now, Nagayoshi!" he said.

"_Raihou!_" The condensed beam of lightning chakra torpedoed at the soaked gigantic serpent with the usual ear-splitting boom. The snake, unprepared for the upcoming ordeal, was zapped with high volts of electricity, frying it in an instant. Hissing like an egg on a fired up frying pan, it fell down, dead in that same second.

Kisame cackled and whapped Nagayoshi on the back, jerking her forward and resulting to land on Erai's chest, much to the dwarf's startle. She scowled and turned to Kisame, who was grinning apologetically. "Heheh…sorry. I don't know my own strength."

They turned to the fried snake again. Nagayoshi returned to Kisame, "So what now? We've beaten the snake, so can we go after Itachi?" she asked.

Kisame sighed. "Oh, well…since you insist…"

"That won't be necessary." said the voice of the one and only Itachi Uchiha. He walked towards his comrades; Kisame noticed the slight hardened expression on his face but decided to shut up. "Let's go back to the base."

Erai and Kisame nodded and, lead by Erai, they walked back to where they reside. However, Nagayoshi just had to be curious. "Where's Orochimaru? Did you manage to kill him?"

Itachi turned slightly to the young kunoichi; his eyes, however, looked to the ground with what it seemed to Nagayoshi as guilt. "No. He got away. But…I manage to chop his hand off."

"You really? Ew…Orochimaru's hand…" Nagayoshi shivered. "I wonder if it still wriggles even after it's been separated from the main body."

Kisame chuckled and Erai, since he couldn't make a sound that was harmless, just made a face of laughter. Itachi, however, was not at all amused.

**|-oOo-|**

"Erai and the others are back." White Zetsu said with his rather gentle voice. He and his dark side appeared in Sasori's room, much to the puppeteer's dismay. Kakuzu stood upright from his leaning position against the wall, anticipation surged all over his nerves.

Sasori nodded and turned to Konan. "All he needs is a whole day bed rest. The antidote is working as of right now and if he moves too much, it'll only decelerate its function." Konan nodded and with Zetsu's help, she brought Nagato to his private room that only she and Zetsu knew the existence of.

Before she went, she said to both Kakuzu and Sasori. "Guys, I have a request." Once the two men paid attention, she continued, "Nagato must be kept secret. The others can only know him as Pein."

They both nodded understandingly, and then Kakuzu rushed outside, eager to meet with his sister again. Sasori followed shortly, though his reason to meet was more to a fundamental issue. As they exited Sasori's room door and climbed the short set of stairs that led to the middle room, they heard people's voices. One of them was distinctively higher in pitch. They waited until their figures appeared in the same room as theirs.

The first thing Nagayoshi saw when she finally got out of the awfully long tunnel entrance of the Akatsuki lair was two men standing in the middle of the circular room that led to all members' rooms. One of the men was her brother which she hadn't seen almost for two weeks. A big smile immediately covered her entire face and she jogged to the masked ninja. "Oniisan! I'm back!" she hollered merrily, jumping and circling her brother's torso with her arms.

"Oof!" Kakuzu grunted at the squeeze. "Hey, glad to see you back alive." Kakuzu said, ruffling Nagayoshi's short black hair.

The sister grinned. "I'm not gonna die that easily."

Kakuzu smirked. "Yeah, but it surely only takes a while for you to get a new cut. Now what is this?" he asked, poking at the large band-aid adhered on top of Nagayoshi's cheek cut. The girl winced; apparently, it still stung a little.

"The enemy stabbed my cheek with some…sharpened lizard bone. He really did cut me pretty deep. I'll tell you later; how's Pein-sama?" she asked back.

"Yeah," Kisame added, "you told us he was down. How could he, our leader, he who defeated Hanzou the Salamander singlehandedly, get defeated by Orochimaru that easily?"

"He was poisoned." Kakuzu answered.

Then Sasori adjoined, "Orochimaru secretly gave Pein-sama an odorless poison to his drink. But we all know, Orochimaru isn't a poison expert, so I thought it must be someone else's doing."

"And he admitted it." Kakuzu added. "It's a long story. I'll tell you in my room as I fix this little brat's wound." he said, poking Nagayoshi's forehead. Those who just came back followed Kakuzu. Meanwhile, Sasori went off to a different way. There was something he needed to make sure.

* * *

**Dammit…the brain stops functioning right after Orochimaru took off and Itachi went after him. I purposely leave that section blank because Kishimoto-sensei had shown a little about it and I was practically idea-less. Anyway, I like writing Erai in his fighting mode. What a Marvel Comics Superhero reference! Black Lightning! (goes off to randomness)**

**I also like when Nagayoshi kicks Orochimaru's ass with that move I learned from Time Warp Wrestler episode. No, I saw it, seriously, but I modified it a bit. Hopefully, it DOES possible for wrestlers to do.**

_Next: Without Pein on the job and Konan was busy tending him, the Akatsuki was vacant. What do they do with the free time? Yet another slow-paced chapter._


	25. Time Out

**Chapter 24: Time Out**

"Did you get bitten by a gigantic summon?" Kakuzu asked, almost heatedly, as he inspected his sister's left thigh. The other three men turned their backs around for they were unauthorized to view Nagayoshi's hidden skin. Kakuzu, being the organization's resident surgeon and Nagayoshi's brother, has the privilege of inspecting places where people generally wouldn't—for health purposes, of course, you dirty-minded.

Nagayoshi rubbed the back of her head. "Not really. It was a dinosaur head."

"That's bullshit. Dinosaurs were extinct over a million years ago." Kakuzu retorted, shifting Nagayoshi's leg up and down to check on the wound's condition. Since his sister didn't wince or anything, he concluded that it was fine.

"Their bones aren't. And apparently they are still as sharp as when they died." Nagayoshi said, grabbing the last apple from her travelling bag and chomped it after wiping it with a piece of tissue.

Kisame suddenly cleared his throat, his face still looking at the opposite direction from the siblings. "So, uh, Kakuzu, so you really think the kid did it? He looks like a nice kid; seriously, I can't believe he would actually work for Orochimaru."

"Even after these years, Kisame, you still can't single out the face of a hoaxer? Actually, I never trust that kid. I don't like the way he talked and smiled all the time." Kakuzu answered coolly, shaking a bottle of a newly-made custom infection killer and popping its lid open before soaking a cotton ball with it.

"Hey, I'm not that naïve, okay?" Kisame retorted. "I don't tell whether he dons a mask or not from his smile—"

"EYAAH! Holy shit! Oniisan, what the hell is that you're using on my thigh?" Nagayoshi screeched. She hissed profusely, trying to endure the infection killer's excessive stinging sensation on her wound.

Grimacing a little, Kisame continued. "I smile a lot; do I look like a fraud? In fact, it's because he's hanging a lot with Orochimaru as much as he hangs with his mentor that makes me a little suspicious. How about that?"

Ignoring Nagayoshi's pained groans, Kakuzu answered, elevating his volume so his voice wouldn't get carried away by Nagayoshi's. "That's a nice deduction you got there. Or maybe you're looking for a new topic to make a joke out of." Kakuzu knew Kisame was frowning to his slight insult, but he carried on. "Maybe they had been planning it for a really long time. I heard he's been Sasori's subordinate even before he was brought in here. Well, pretty much like my sister."

"Nyaaaah…are you done yet?" Nagayoshi bleated. Her hands were all over her face as she heaved in and out air to keep conscience alive.

"Yeah, yeah, I just need to bandage it, that's all." Kakuzu answered exasperatedly. He grabbed a roll of bandage and skillfully started to roll them around Nagayoshi's dinosaur-bitten thigh. Once he was finished, he teased his sister a little as he stood up. Pointing his own cheek, he asked, "You want that fixed the same way?"

Frenetically guarding the band-aid on her cheek, Nagayoshi cried, "AH! No, no way, thanks. I've had enough…whatever that thing's made of…pain. By the way, what is it made of?"

Kakuzu opened his mouth, but no words came. A short pause later, he answered, "You ain't wanna know. Get up."

Nagayoshi obeyed and wore her pants back on. She winced, "Gah, now that you put something on it, it hurts again." Despite the extra effort, she dressed herself in no time.

"Okay, boys, you can turn now." Kakuzu called over the three backing men.

"Ah, finally!" Kisame exclaimed. When he was about to say something more, somebody knocked the door to Kakuzu's room. All eyes directed to the door, curious of who might be knocking at this time. Kakuzu called out, allowing the person knocking to enter. It took only five seconds and a swing of the door for them to find out.

A red head bobbed in.

"Sasori. What's the matter?" Kakuzu asked.

"I need Itachi—now." the red-headed ninja said sharply. His brown eyes met with Itachi's black ones almost urgently. Itachi simply raised an eyebrow slightly and obliged Sasori's request soon after. The Uchiha turned back to his partner.

"You do the talking." he said lastly before his figure waned behind the closing door.

"No problem!" Kisame replied, giving Itachi a salute, even though he wouldn't see it coming after all. He turned, grinning at Kakuzu. "Well, I always do most of the things. Not that I'm complaining about it."

"Talking? About what—" Realization struck Kakuzu immediately even without Kisame telling him. He nodded soon afterwards and looked to his sister. "Nagayoshi, Kisame and I need to talk. Can you and Erai leave us alone for a minute? Maybe—I don't know—you guys can hang out in the town or something?"

"Can't I just listen to what you guys are to talk about?" Nagayoshi demanded.

"Uh, no. It's guys stuff; it'll bore you to death."

"Ah, c'mon, 'Niisan! You're being unfair!" she whined, pouting her lips. The pouting disappeared at the moment Erai tugged on one of her wrists. He stared at her, convincing her to leave her brother and Kisame alone. He tugged again but this time, Kakuzu helped.

"Please. Just for a moment or two." the masked ninja said, patting Nagayoshi's head.

The young kunoichi sighed in defeat. "Fine," she finally said, "but next time, I want to get involved even for just a little." she added, somewhat threateningly. With another tug on her wrist, Nagayoshi followed Erai outside. She hurriedly took her rain coat and took a short last glance at her brother before following Erai.

**|-oOo-|**

"She's twelve, you know, Kakuzu. He's not really a kid anymore." Kisame said, taking a seat on the siblings' bed while Kakuzu preferred to lean against his working table, looking at his talking partner. He unstrapped Samehada from his back and put it in front of him. "Maybe you should give her a bit more respect."

"I know. But I don't want her around when we're talking about her." Kakuzu replied.

"You have the point."

"So…" Kakuzu continued, "How was it? What was her reaction when you unleash your 'wild' side?" the older of the ninjas asked nonchalantly.

On the other hand, Kisame diverted his gaze to the lower part of his sword which he leaned against. Kakuzu tilted his head slightly to the side, noticing Kisame's glum reaction. "Not so good." he answered, a few long seconds later.

One of Kakuzu's eyebrows elevated. "What does that mean?"

"She was with Itachi when she saw me going berserk. If it was me, I'd let her shut her eyes or go away if the scene got too gruesome for her. But Itachi had another initiative. He sort of forced her to open her eyes and looked straight forward at me mutilating this guy. By the time I looked around, she was…crying…" Kisame trailed off at the last verb. He glanced sideways at the coffee-skinned ninja. He knew how protective of Nagayoshi he was, so he sort of expected an infuriated flash from his eyes. To his surprise, Kakuzu simply sighed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. However, his expression hardened a little.

"After that, did she experience some…uh…sleeping problems?" Kakuzu proceeded to ask some more details. He tried not to be too stiff. From the looks of it, his sister seemed to be alright (except after what he did to her bite injuries).

"Uh, I'm not sure. Well, she wasn't in the room when I got back. Itachi-san didn't say anything about it too while he was with her the whole time ever since we were done killing our target." Kisame answered, not as glumly as before. This time, he tilted his head. "What? She used to have nightmares?"

Kakuzu glanced at the blue ninja before setting his eyes on an empty space on the wall. "Yeah. Back then, she was a lot younger. I…sort of forced her too."

"Then how did she get over it?"

Kakuzu shrugged. "It just happened. She just stabbed someone on the heart and she discovered her own way to take lives. She didn't care much about blood anymore; she saw me hitting Ryouken into a bloody pulp, but she was fine."

"Wait…" Kisame interjected, "if she's not afraid of blood then why—"

"I think the problem has never been on the amount of blood loss." Kakuzu cut him off. Kisame raised an eyebrow and looking at that, Kakuzu continued, "Nagayoshi wasn't really afraid of blood. Last time, it was just shock. It's actually disfigured bodies she couldn't stand seeing."

"Oh…" Kisame murmured; a thin tone of guiltiness escaped.

"Don't blame yourself. She asked for it, right?" Kakuzu said, as if he had read Kisame's mind by hearing the way he spoke a few moments ago.

"Yeah, I know. But I still couldn't stop thinking that I just make her trauma worse." Kisame replied guiltily. He asked again, "What could have possibly caused her fear to, you know, disfigured bodies?"

"You really wanna know?"

Kisame gulped a little. "Did I ask the wrong the question?"

"Nah, not that. But you have to promise me something." Kakuzu said, his tone turned more somber, more serious.

"Okay…" Kisame blinked.

"You have to promise never let Nagayoshi know that you have learned about her past. She's extremely sensitive on this one." Kakuzu stated, as serious as he could be. Looking at his eyes bore at him and hearing the way his voice spoke to him, Kisame realized how much of a big deal he had just asked. So he nodded and Kakuzu sighed heavily. "Nagayoshi's trauma on disfigured body started when she was just six years old. In that village where she grew, she used to have a brother and a sister; adoptive, just like the way we are. Those two were caught stealing, one day, and they were…executed. Their arms and legs were mutilated. Nagayoshi was there when it happened and she couldn't stop them." Kakuzu explained. He tried not to go too far with it, despite that he had told Kisame not to spill the secret out.

"Gosh, that's…that's quite a terrible scene for a kid her age to see." Kisame commented sympathetically.

"You, from all of us, should know better about it. You're a Kirigakure ninja; you were born seeing that kind of image." Kakuzu added.

"Yeah, I know." Kisame stared at his own hands. Distant screams, roars, and bellows flashed through his mind. He removed his gaze from them and returned to Kakuzu who had been observing his reaction after the telling of the story. "For such a sensitive memory, Nagayoshi sure was kind enough to share with you."

"I never really intended to hear about it. Only…I accidentally fished her to spill them." Kakuzu replied.

"When did she tell you that?"

Kakuzu shrugged. "It's been quite a long time. Obviously, it's after we escaped from Kumo. I have to admit, I am being unfair." He paused; Kisame used the vacuum time to blink confusedly. "She had told me her story, but I haven't told her mine. Well, except the brief summary as of how I got these stitches…"

"Oh? How did you get those?" Kisame asked, eyes sparkling with a newfound interest. Everybody wanted to know how and why this mysterious ancient ninja could obtain his iconic features. What he got in return was a bitter glare.

"_None _of your business."

**|-oOo-|**

Nagayoshi winced all the way under the rain to god knows where Erai was about to take her. For someone so small, Erai had quite a physical strength. That made her thought of how it would feel like if she did the same thing…to herself. She wanted to know if she was that strong—because, so far, whenever she power-nudged her brother, he would always snap at her for it was painful. Besides the pulling, Erai seemed to be so enthusiastic to go somewhere. He pulled her the way a little boy would when he wanted to show something he considered as awesome. Well, Erai was small, but he certainly wasn't a boy anymore.

At one point, she could feel the speed decelerating. In front of her, Erai turned his head a little to look at her with a big grin. She couldn't help but raising a doubtful eyebrow at his glee. It was when he stopped that Nagayoshi was forced to make a guess.

They stopped in front of a bar—an ice cream bar, to be precise. Nagayoshi opened her mouth a little, almost gaping with utter confusion. She was about to ask the dwarf ninja something but before she could speak, he had already tugged her wrist once again. She grunted in an unladylike manner. "Ugh, Erai! Stop! Why are we going inside?" she asked, a little irritated. She grunted that Erai used his muteness to keep a dirty little secret from her.

Erai finally released her wrist and she rubbed it as the sepia-haired ninja opened the hood of his rain coat. He turned to Nagayoshi, still smiling with a very slight mischief. Nagayoshi scowled and sighed exasperatedly. "You crave ice cream _that_ much?" she asked sourly.

Erai made a little uncertain nod, equivalent to "Hmm…quite much." Then he pointed his throat, his smile was yet to disappear. Nagayoshi once again skewed her eyebrows.

"Uh, I already know you got problems with your throat. That was how you got your powers, right?"

Erai shook his head and, slowly (since Nagayoshi hadn't completely understand Erai's hand language), he explained. He tried to use the gestures she would understand so as not to overwhelm her with new vocabularies. Upon understanding his intention, Nagayoshi made a long "Oh" sound and laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "Oh my god, I feel so stupid…. So you often crave for ice cream after every time you fight? Well, like my brother always say, 'That's because you scream too much.'"

Erai giggled silently, being unable to create harmless sound. The two short people heard a middle-aged woman calling his name, "Erai-kun, you're here!" The miniature man waved at the woman, causing Nagayoshi to stare at the two of them with sheer curiosity. Erai nodded at her and walked up to the counter; Nagayoshi followed shortly. "Oh, you brought along a friend! Hello there." the old woman said to Nagayoshi kindly. "My, for a boy you surely have a sweet face."

Nagayoshi blushed and Erai giggled silently again. The woman tilted her head to the side, blinking in confusion. Nagayoshi stammered to correct the lady, "Uh…sorry, but I'm not…you know…a boy."

Gasping, the woman covered her mouth with both of her hands. She bent down, laughing half-heartedly, "Oh my, I'm sorry, little lady! I didn't know."

Nagayoshi put her hands in front of her, forgiving her small mistake in determining her gender. "No, no—it's okay. I get that a lot." she replied. "Anyway, how long have you guys known each other?" she asked afterwards.

"Oh, I know Erai-kun ever since he was just a boy. Back then, he even looked even younger and so cute that I wanted him to be my son. But…" she sighed, smiling gently, "his old master had already treated him like a son. I'm glad Erai-kun grows as a man useful to this village, despite being from another village." The old woman cupped her own cheek, drowned in nostalgia and almost forgot that she was supposed to serve both Erai and Nagayoshi ice cream, if the dwarf ninja didn't tap on the freezer's glass display. "Oops, sorry. My bad. So…what do you two want?"

Excited with the idea of having ice cream melting in his throat, eagerly Erai pointed at a flavor he most desired: mint chocolate chip. After that, he pointed at the cup size, and he didn't hesitate to order the large cup, which contained about four to five (large) scoops. The lady just smiled and nodded, and then she fulfilled Erai's order. Nagayoshi's eyes bulged at how jam-packed and mountainous the scoops were being put in a cup (that nearly incapable to contain all the five scoops). Her eyes then flew down to Erai who, with a full-size smile, received the ample cup of ice cream. She blinked; the view…it somewhat wanted to make her laugh.

Erai was so much different. Well, yes, he was a smile factory in the base, but not this big and shiny. His smile in the base was more to a quiet guy smile. This one, the one he showed in front of this lady, was a smile of a true child. Nagayoshi knew perfectly that Erai's age was much older than her or than how he looked. Despite looking like a ten-year-old, he was actually twenty-four! So this sight made her think: _is this the childish side of Erai I'm seeing?_ And seeing him like that, it just levitated Nagayoshi's soul; she wanted to smile too but at him and his behavior.

"And you, young lady?" the older lady asked.

As if a balloon was popped in front of her ears, she jumped slightly and turned briskly towards the nice old lady, nearly blushing because she thought she was caught spacing out. The old lady just smiled at her kindly and asked her again, upon seeing her blank expression, "Do you want some ice cream, honey?"

"Oh, uh, um…yes. Yes, please. Uh…I'd like to have the chocolate ice cream." Nagayoshi placed her order, pointing at the milky white container with a dark brown frozen mixture of dairy in it. She didn't hate ice cream, but she never really had a lot of 'encounters' with them so she decided to pick simple flavors such as this one.

"Large one?"

"Wha—no! Just…the small size. I don't think I can eat that much." Nagayoshi trailed slightly, rotating her neck to look at her friend, delightfully licking mint chocolate chip ice cream from the small magenta plastic spoon. She directed her gaze to the old lady again and whispered, "Does he always order large mint chocolate chip?"

"Oh yes, he does. Mint chocolate chip is his favorite, although sometimes he likes to order pistachio or cookies n' cream. It depends." she answered with a little giggle. "Here you go." she handed Nagayoshi her single scooped cup.

Seeing that Nagayoshi had made her order, Erai walked down to the cashier and pulled out a handful of small bills from his pocket. Realizing what he was about to do, Nagayoshi hurriedly attempted to stop him. "Whoa—wait, wait, wait, wait! Wait! What are you doing? It's alright, I can—" She never got that finished, not with Erai's magenta spoon pressed almost vehemently against her mouth, shutting it efficiently. Her eyes spoke instead, pleading him not to bother to pay her share too. With the same method, Erai retorted with much friendly menace, insisting that he wanted to pay for her share and that was final. The spoon was removed and the first sound coming from Nagayoshi's mouth was a sigh. "Fine…be as you like it."

Erai smiled again, right as the cashier machine jingled and the cashier woman (who was actually the old lady's niece) handed him the change. He beckoned Nagayoshi towards the seat right next to the window, where they could observe passersby ambling in front of the ice cream bar. Some of them were empty-handed, some were not, and the other some held someone else's hand. Up above the rain was still pouring, although not as hard as usual. The two short people sat face to face, and Erai proceed to consume his ice cream with more greed.

Nagayoshi observed him again. Even the way he ate the ice cream was childish. At which point, she began to doubt if Erai was indeed twenty-four. Slowly and somewhat hesitantly, Nagayoshi put a spoon of her chocolate ice cream into her mouth. Immediately, the chill attacked the top portion of her head. Eating ice cream in the middle of a rainy and windy day might not be a good idea, but after that fight against Orochimaru, the ice cream's other effect was soon proven. Not only freezing her brain, but it also cooled her down from the inside, indirectly soothing the pain Kakuzu had previously given to her thigh. Now she understood why Erai loved ice cream so much. The craving has a reason: using his voice made his throat felt like dry or soar and the best way to ease that dryness was by eating a lot of ice cream; that and the cozy atmosphere of the bar. She could imagine Erai sitting where he was, alone, looking outside, observing people. That made her to wonder about the traffic inside his head. What could he possibly be thinking right now?

Erai's arms and hands were moving and by the time they stopped, Nagayoshi realized he was just finished saying something to her. Unfortunately, she was so deep in her own mind she didn't pay attention to the gestures at all. It caused her to stutter uncontrollably, making unfathomable jumble of incomplete words. Erai rolled his eyes while Nagayoshi cursed at herself for not paying attention. So instead he pulled a little notebook from his pocket—a notebook that he always kept in his pocket at all times just in case someone didn't understand hand language—and wrote something on it with a pencil. He flipped the notebook, showing the written words to her.

_"I said, 'you don't act much like your brother.'"_

Nagayoshi raised an eyebrow almost up to her hairline. "What do you mean I don't act like my brother much? Katana said I look _and _soundenough like him."

Erai wrote again, _"If I ever offer Kakuzu anything, he wouldn't bother being modest and told me not to pay for him. You're different."_

Nagayoshi burst in a snort. "Oh, that…well, we're not blood siblings, anyway, and I don't think the cheap attitude influenced me. I _do_ spend more than he does."

Erai smirked and wrote some more. _"Of course you do. You're a girl; it's normal for girls to spend more than men."_

"Hey, but I'm not so mindless to actually drain my wallet empty. I won't buy something that I know would jerk me into poverty the next second I pay it. I only buy what I need—and apples."

Nagayoshi and Erai both laughed; out loud and silently respectively. The fit ceased not long afterwards, with Nagayoshi sighed in relief. Her tear glands got squished by her eye muscles, resulting in a crying laughter. She wiped the tears that managed to leak a little out of her eyes. Erai, with a little more effort, wrote, _"Heh, it's good to still have some laughs after all the things that happened."_

Nagayoshi smiled, much more softly than the earlier playful one. "Good to hear that I've entertained you."

Erai scribbled something again on his little notebook, but this time, after finishing what he wrote, he pondered upon it for a moment. After that he shook his head and restored the book inside his pocket, much to Nagayoshi's confusion.

"What is it? What do you want to say?" Nagayoshi asked, noticing Erai's change of mind after writing something on that notebook. Erai just shook his head, denying anything regarding about the words he wrote on his notebook. When Nagayoshi insisted upon the subject, he shoved a big spoonful of mint chocolate chip ice cream to her mouth, right as it was creaking open. As a result, Nagayoshi got brain-freeze from both the ice cream's subzero temperature and the mint's chilly flavor. Moreover, the blustery wind from outside got in (courtesy of a customer opening the bar's door wide) and blew to her face. Erai had to resist laughing out (too) loud upon seeing her priceless expression.

_"I want to share more laughs with you, Nagayoshi."_

* * *

**GAH! Fluff! As much as it is sweet to readers (perhaps), it's itchy for me to write. There's always this tingly feeling every time I write a fluff. Damn… =_=;**

**Okay, usually, I'd say that this kind of chapter is boring to me, but I made my choice. Actually, I think this one is much better than the other 'mellow' chapters. I don't know why; it just is. I absolutely love Baskin Robbins' Mint Chocolate Chip. It's the best! :D**

**Wait…what are you doing reading this comment? The chapter's not over yet! Scroll down! (YUS! This is the tease comment!)**

* * *

The synthetic wooden hand made a gentle swerve and knocked on the door that was made of a weaker version of the hand's material. The contact between two types of wood generated sound loud enough for the ears both inside and outside the room to hear it. Sasori waited for the approval to enter and when the owner of the room exclaimed it out, he turned the knob, pushed the door slightly and poked his head inside. He didn't intend to enter the room completely; he just wanted to call someone. By the time his eyes got to see the people inside the room, he was greeted with curious stares.

With his mask opened, Kakuzu asked, "Sasori, what's the matter?"

Not wanting to waste any more time, he immediately went straight to the point. "I need Itachi—now." His red-brown eyes shot at the young Uchiha's black ones sharply and the younger man just stared at him blankly, though there might be some questions behind it.

Itachi obliged his rather hurried command and as he left the room, he spoke to Kisame and the blue ninja replied lightheartedly. The long-haired young man approached him and Sasori walked off, leading him to another place. Sasori lead him outside the Akatsuki headquarters, to the deep forest where somewhere inside it, Sasori had Kabuto half-conscious and tied to a tree by two of his puppet servants. Itachi couldn't hide his curiosity any longer; his eyes were widened and he blinked several times before turning briskly to Sasori.

"What's this? Why do you have your apprentice tied to a tree?" Itachi asked. To Sasori's surprise, he kept his air as calm as possible even as he asked him questions.

"This brat is Orochimaru's helper. The poison that Orochimaru used to knock down Pein-sama was the regular food poison that slowly and painfully kills the consumer. But something was wrong; it was so odorless and tasteless that even Pein-sama couldn't detect it." Sasori explained, injecting bluish-white liquid from a syringe to Kabuto's neck.

"And how is that?" Itachi asked, watching as the liquid disappeared into the slightly older teenager's blood vessels.

"There was an ingredient added. Not many poison experts know this, but the method is actually quite simple. You ready to hear the added ingredient?" Sasori turned to Itachi, eyes staring sharp.

The Uchiha didn't answer, but he didn't hide his eagerness to know the secret ingredient. He waited and Sasori felt sorry to keep him waiting.

"Tea leaves."

That was just it; Itachi had broke from his indifference circle and made an exceptionally emotional expression. It satisfied Sasori a little to be able to coax Itachi's rarely-seen expression out. "Tea leaves? Don't—don't tell me that Pein-sama was drinking a cup of tea before he went down!"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but he was. To make things worse, me, Kakuzu, and Konan were there. We saw him brew the tea, and Konan actually took the tea from his hands. The evidence was in front of us all the time and we didn't even realize it! Orochimaru had successfully tricked us all…" he ended sourly. At the same time, Kabuto woke up, blinking rapidly as he found himself tied to a tree.

He squirmed and Sasori's face appeared right before his eyesight. He gulped and started to blabbered, "Sasori-sama, I assure you, he forced me! I had no choice! I'm not lying!"

"Zip it, boy!" Sasori growled. "Your words are just simply a voice to me. That's why I bring Itachi with me. Now, if you say that Orochimaru forced you to help him, I'm going to force you to spill out the truth. Itachi, now…"

Those black orbs of Itachi turned red in a blink of an eye. The glowing red glory of Sharingan met Kabuto's eyes straight and they whirled, together with Kabuto's whole world. They teleported him to a place he couldn't escape just by biting his lips till they bled.

A red world.

A white truth.

* * *

_Next: Kakuzu's suspension is finally over! Now the adoptive siblings will embark on a journey—like the old days._


	26. Some Things Never Change

**Chapter 25: Some Things Never Change**

"Oh…my…fucking…god…"

"WOOHOO!"

The calendar specifically said that today was the twenty-first of October, exactly sixty-three days after the day Kakuzu was declared suspended for two months. Twenty-first was exactly two months and both Kakuzu and Nagayoshi were relieved and delighted that the suspension was officially over, even when Pein didn't state it.

Kakuzu was so relieved that the ordeal of sitting around in the base was finally over that he couldn't move but staring at the calendar with those relieved-disbelieved eyes. On the other hand, his sister was making a racket that he failed to notice. She was excited too; she practically did the victory dance that Kakuzu was supposed to do (if he wasn't such a serious type of guy). She hopped down from the dance floor aka the bed and turned Kakuzu brusquely towards her and shook his hand vehemently with hyperactive vigor.

"Congratulations, Oniisan! You are a free man once again now! INDEPENDEEENCE!" she shouted, pointing her finger towards the ceiling.

Outside, unheard by the siblings, was a man speaking, "I can't believe how much noise she could make. She's basically the smaller and less insane Ryouken. If only she has that chakra blockage on her throat like you, Erai, she would have leveled the whole village!" It was unmistakably Kisame, who, although not waked up by the noise, was curious to find out what was actually happening. By the time he opened Kakuzu's door—after no respond was given to his knockings—he found Nagayoshi climbing onto Kakuzu's back, nearly choking him with her arms. Kakuzu, due to the suffocation, was distracted from his supposed-to-be prolonged stupefaction and was yelling at his sister to get off his back. Kisame didn't know whether he had to smack his forehead or laugh at them, so he did neither.

Kakuzu turned around, after surviving Nagayoshi's loving and deathly glomp, and spotted two of his Akatsuki comrades ogling at him much to his discomfort. Not to mention that he was not yet properly dressed. Poisonously, he commanded them, "Get out." and the two immediately slammed the door shut. The not-yet masked ninja sighed and hollered at Nagayoshi to stop jumping ecstatically on top of the bed.

And silence, at last, ensued.

**|-oOo-|**

Standing before the much better Pein (once again working undercover), Kakuzu massaged his temples. The whole morning Nagayoshi wouldn't stop jabbering about throwing a party to celebrate Kakuzu's end of suspension, which he refused so furiously, much to the sister's dismay. The leader noticed Kakuzu's gestures of exasperation and his orange eyebrow rose slightly.

"Are you alright, Kakuzu?" Pein asked.

Kakuzu snapped to focus and shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Actually, I'm somewhere on the delighted territory. So…what's up?" he asked back.

Ignoring the plausible cause of Kakuzu's headache, Pein shifted his position into a more serious pose. He set his elbows on the table, his fingers crisscrossed in front of his chin. "I can't really classify this as a mission." he began, "It's more like an order."

Kakuzu didn't comment about anything. He waited for the leader to state his order down.

"You are to fetch your new partner, Kakuzu." Pein continued, retaining his position. "He's located somewhere on the outskirts of Earth Country. You and your sister are to go there and fetch him, invite him to our organization."

"Who's the new-to-be guy?" Kakuzu asked.

"It's a man, born in Kusagakure, the same place as where Zetsu came from. His name is Hokko. His crime record is rather a fascinating one: he killed 39 families and kidnapped their children. He was caught fifteen years ago and underwent seven years in an elite prison before he managed to escape. However, the children's whereabouts are yet to be discovered." Pein elucidated. From the corners of his eyes, he noticed Kakuzu curling his fingers into a tight fist. Creases were formed on the bridge of his nose between his jade eyes; his eyes slanted. Before he was about to add extra information, Kakuzu cut him off.

"Do you remember what caused me to kill my previous partner, Leader-sama?" Kakuzu asked icily.

Pein closed his eyes momentarily before opening them again. "Yes, I remember. But he's the only one that qualifies now."

"If he harms my sister, you know what will happen. I don't care if I have to go through another two months of suspension, but _this_ is ridiculous. That's it—I'm not fetching this guy!" Kakuzu snapped, turning sharply towards the exit only to be stopped by Pein's voice.

"Maybe you forget what I just said: this is an order, not a request or a mission. Like it or not, you have to fetch this man and invite him to Akatsuki." Pein persevered, his eyes also slanted like Kakuzu's as his patience began to thin.

"Whatever. I'm still not going to get that guy." Kakuzu ignored Pein's persistence. What he did provoked Pein's emotions. The leader stood from his seat. Konan gasped from where she was standing.

"Don't make me use my powers on you." Pein snarled.

Kakuzu turned challengingly, glaring at the equally glaring younger male. He growled, "You're on."

"That's enough, you two!" Konan shouted, right before Pein was about to use his signature move and sent Kakuzu flying across the tower and out. She quickly stepped between the two men, causing Pein to pull back his nearly initiated attack since he did not want to hurt Konan. She glared at the both of them, "This is not the time to fight! Nagato, I know you're not in your fittest condition, but that doesn't mean you can throw it on someone else like that! You, Kakuzu, I admire your protectiveness towards your sister, but you should be rational. It only said that the children's whereabouts are unknown; it never said they're dead. Now would you please do as he says? If Hokko turns out to be harmful to your sister, I will arrange so that he becomes Sasori's new partner instead. Now does that make you any slight bit happier?" She slightly panted, for once throwing her breath like that after a long time.

The two men still glared at each other but made no attempt to attack each other anymore. Pein reseated himself, slouching on his seat with his eyes still fiery with momentary flash of anger. Kakuzu grunted and turned around, walking out of the office. "Fine…" he growled. "You better keep those words, Konan."

"Certainly. Oh, and, Kakuzu," she called again; Kakuzu turned his head slightly. "For further information on your new partner, I've sent it to your agent."

"Which agent?" Kakuzu inquired, this time, not bothering to turn his head again.

"You know…the one with the dog."

"Ah." he simply answered and left. The door was closed and his heavy footsteps gradually subdued. As the masked ninja disappeared, Konan turned to her childhood friend.

"What is with you today, Nagato?" Konan asked, approaching his desk. "You don't usually get loose like this. Something bothers you?"

Pein stared at Konan, unintentionally using a pair of sharp eyes, and massaged his nose bridge. "No, I'm fine. But I do feel like punching someone when I woke up this morning." he answered, his voice showed weariness.

"Hmph, you sound like a girl in puberty. Nagayoshi said almost the same thing when she first hit it." Konan commented, walking around Pein's table and encircled her lean arms around his head, combing his orange hair with her fingers. He rested his head against Konan's upper abdomen and savored the feeling of Konan's fingers on his hair.

"You seem to get closer with the girl." Pein said.

"She has the same gender as I am. I'm pretty sure she could use a little girl's time once in a while like I could use some. You sound jealous…" Konan replied gently.

"I am not." Pein retorted lazily.

Konan smiled softly and pulled her arms away from his head. In change, she cupped his face, rubbing the side with her thumb. "Have a rest. It'll ease your mind. I'll inform the guys that you won't be available for a mean time. Go…"

Pein sighed and stood up. He grasped Konan's hand that was on his face, caressing the top of it with his thumb. He whispered, "Thank you."

**|-oOo-|**

"You don't look so good." Nagayoshi made a somewhat witty comment, three hours after the beginning of their journey. Kakuzu made no effort to look at his sister, even if it was just lazily. She continued, "You don't seem to be enthusiastic with the search of your new partner. Is there something wrong?"

Kakuzu didn't answer for a while, but after years of living together, Nagayoshi understood why, so she patiently waited. A few seconds later, a lowly vocalized answer was spoken, "Nothing."

"Are you mad at Pein-sama?" she asked again.

"I said nothing!" he snapped back, much to Nagayoshi's surprise. Apparently, Kakuzu's mood was way worse than she had expected. She winced when he yelled at her but didn't complain about it.

"I heard you…" she meekly replied. Kakuzu grunted.

Nagayoshi frowned. This was bad. This was the near-worst extend of Kakuzu's bad mood syndrome. Nagayoshi had no idea what or who might have caused it, but when this sort of thing happened, it cannot last for too long. So, in order to save her brother's life and perhaps her own life too, she shifted her bag to her front and dug her hand into it. She grinned once she found the only thing that could cheer her brother up. Probably.

"Oniisan," she called, catching up to him. Kakuzu ignored her, thinking she might want to do something stupid. "Oniisan!" she called, louder.

"What, Nagayoshi?" he growled. As he sharply turned around, he found Nagayoshi hiding from him behind a black-covered book, also known as The Bingo Book. Kakuzu jerked back, a cue for Nagayoshi that it was safe to talk.

She cleared her throat. "Uh…I know some bounty near this area." she said, meekly. She quickly showed the bounty's page and immediately, she saw a drastic change in her brother's character. His shoulders loosened and the creases formed between the visible skins of his nose bridge disappeared. He grabbed The Bingo Book and read at the bounty's page thoroughly. It pleased Nagayoshi when his green-in-red eyes gleamed in amusement.

"Nice one you found in here, sis. But…" Kakuzu trailed off, his eyes shifted to the shorter figure of his sister. "Are you sure…"

"The book says so." Nagayoshi confirmed. "So, what do you think? Shall we take it?"

Kakuzu nodded, flipping The Bingo Book close and tossed it back to Nagayoshi for her to store back into her bag. "Let's go."

_45 km later; Cirque de la Merveille_

Kakuzu growled. "Thirty Ryou each for a fucking circus ticket? You have got to be kidding me!" he complained as he and Nagayoshi found empty seats somewhere on the middle row. Nagayoshi grimaced as they sat down.

"Look at the bright side. We're gonna get one hundred times the amount when everything's finished." Nagayoshi patted her brother's back. "Anyway, I chose this one because I never been to a circus before. C'mon, give this little girl a chance to see the things."

"To be perfectly honest, this is the first time I ever go to a circus too." Kakuzu added, resting his chin on his hand as they and the rest of the audience waited for the circus people to come out and show them spectacular acrobats. He gave Nagayoshi a convincing stare when she gaped at him.

"I can't imagine what your life looked like before I entered." Nagayoshi commented.

"Oh, you have no idea."

A stumpy man entered the stadium. The audience silenced as he spoke out loud, welcoming the audiences. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Welcome to _Cirque de la Merveille_! Where you will find the wonders of the world, the spectacular abilities of human science, and martial arts that you never seen before!" —Kakuzu held himself from snorting— "For our…appetizers, let me introduce you, The Clown Cousins!"

While audiences cheered and clapped, Kakuzu did not. Instead, he muttered, "Oh, great." sourly and had no choice but watch the sickeningly colorful-outfitted idiots squirting water from their flower badges. Kakuzu had never been the type of person amused by that kind of joke—which he found dull, dry, and basically not funny—and instead, looking at those clowns made his killing urges wilder. Thankfully, the clowns' time on stage reached its limit and they were replaced by a slightly more amusing sight.

The entertainment was given to the audience non-stop for the full one hour. Elephant acrobatics, tigers and lions taming, trapeze stunts, hoops, human cannonball—everything was there. All but one. It was saved for the last. The stumpy man came back to the stadium, looking cheerful like the first time he came. Proudly, he announced the star of the show—'The Dessert'—and as the music rolled, a tall woman with lock slick black hair, clad in metallic white spandex with orange, brown, and red blots. She held two rope-attached balls that were burned beforehand. The balls were quite small; they were about the size of a normal baseball. They were called Poi. As the music stopped and altered into a more beating one, she began to swing the two balls. The fire from the ball created an illusion as if she was swerving a pair of fire whips.

Nagayoshi nudged Kakuzu, softly, and leaned to whisper, "That's her. That's our bounty. She's from a small country, so it should be easy, right, Oniisan?"

"Be quiet and watch." Kakuzu whispered back. "She has a high price for a reason."

Nagayoshi obliged and with much interest, she watched the woman spun the Poi skillfully. Her attention was easily distracted by the beauty created by combination of the on-fire Poi and the woman's acrobatic skills. Beside her, Kakuzu was watching silently and intently. He was here not because of her show, but because of her herself.

**|-oOo-|**

Each performer has their own tent for them to dress before and after the show. Ise entered hers, congratulating and commenting on her friends, the fellow circus performers. She laughed at one of the Clown Cousins' joke before finally she isolated herself inside her tent. Looking before a large mirror, she cleaned her sparkly make-up and unzipped her tight spandex costume. She untied her long black hair, letting them flow freely and covered most of her back. From tight spandex costume, she wore a loose cropped tank top and a pair of shorts and put her hair up to a big bun on the back of her head with a help from a chopstick.

Once she was done, she grabbed her bag and made her way out. She said her goodbyes to her friends as she headed back to where she currently lived. Like any other roads spread in the world, it was surrounded by forest. Her way back home was no exception. And it was there, the danger lurked.

"I almost don't recognize you without your make-up on." said a voice. It was rather heavy, but still recognizable as a voice of a female. She whisked her head to find the source. She needed not to look far away; the voice came from behind her. Behind her was a pre-pubescent that looked doubtfully like a girl but more to a boy. Yet the voice the kid made was unmistakably female. "Who knew that amongst the circus freaks lives an ex-elite guardian of the Stork Country?" she grinned.

Ise furrowed her brows. She observed the young girl in front of her, leaning against a tree while consuming a green apple. The crunch when a chunk of the apple's meat was torn away by her teeth vibrated through the windy autumn air to her ears. "Aren't you too young to be a bounty hunter?" she asked.

"I'm a bounty hunter in-training. My brother's the real bounty hunter." Nagayoshi answered.

"Then where is your brother?" Ise asked, loosening the strap of her bag from her shoulder. Far in front of her, Nagayoshi buried the remains of her cleanly eaten apple under the soil.

"Currently not here, so I'm going to take you down myself." Nagayoshi dashed towards her with her speed. She went straight at the circus acrobat, preparing a well-trained fist at her. In reflex to Nagayoshi's sudden appearance in front of her, Ise backed away with two small hops. Nagayoshi did not stop; she chased her with a series of offensive movements.

Propping her body with both arms, Ise threw a high kick at Nagayoshi. This time, the younger female hopped back to save her nose from breaking. With the bounty hunter in-training far from her, it was the chance for Ise to get her bag and what was inside it. She grabbed her weapon, still inside her bag, and powerfully swerved it at Nagayoshi. At first, she seemed to just pull a long train of chains until a large round bulge came out last from her bag. It was the Poi she used earlier in her performance—only the end of it wasn't a disco ball, but a fifty kilograms mass of steel with large spikes.

The ground broke and a clamorous clang was heard as the steel club of the Poi clashed with the stony arm of Kakuzu as he stood in front of his sister. Ise quickly pulled back her Poi, in amazement of Kakuzu's underground entrance. The masked ninja looked over his shoulder to his sister. "I guess I'm on time." he said, a slight playful mockery in his tone.

Nagayoshi crossed her arms. "I can deal with her alone."

"Right. Surely you weren't thinking when she nearly punctured your skull with heavy steel club." he retorted.

"Oh okay…_thanks_, Oniisan." Nagayoshi rolled her eyes. "Now I can go back to business. Cover me!" Nagayoshi dashed at Ise again, leaving her brother behind. She was already halfway to hitting Ise straight on the face by the time Kakuzu realized she wanted him to cover her.

"Oy! Wait a minute! Nagayoshi!" he called after her, to no avail. He growled lowly and his tendrils began to unwind from his forearms.

With much power, Ise hauled one of her two Pois and brought it into a wide circling motion. Nagayoshi halted on time, as the spiked Poi whizzed in front of her eyes. She hopped skywards, planning to attack on the spinning point which was Ise herself. The acrobat knew what she was thinking; she stopped the wild circular motion of the spiked Poi and then shot the other non-spiked one. This one was smaller. Nevertheless, it was still made of heavy metal material. Being in mid-air, Nagayoshi was practically defenseless. Putting her arms before her won't save her life as the Poi's attack would break her arms instantly—despite years of hardcore physical training with her superhuman-powered adoptive brother. Her last resort was to shoot three bomb-attached kunais at the Poi's metallic sphere of bone-crushing doom.

Nagayoshi detonated the bombs as the three blades clanged against the sphere. The explosion vibrated the forest for a certain long diameter. Birds flew away and land animals scampered, frightened by the shockwave. Nagayoshi, too, got flew away thanks to the shockwave. Her flying was abrasively broken by Kakuzu's arms catching her body. He landed on the ground safely and put her down. "What did I tell you about waiting?" Kakuzu, in whispers, criticize his sister.

"I shattered the ball into smithereens, see?" Nagayoshi retorted defiantly. What she got was a hit on her head.

"Stop arguing and listen to me!" Kakuzu growled. "Kisame's fighting style has contaminated you a lot. Okay…here's the plan. You see, she's a long-ranged fighter as opposed to your close-ranged style."

"But _Raihou_ is long-ranged jutsu!"

"I said stop arguing and listen!" he snapped, hitting her head harder this time. Nagayoshi winced and rubbed her head, silently cursing. She listened to Kakuzu, nonetheless. "Your _Raihou_ won't hurt her. I know the Poi is made of metal and chains, but she moves it really quickly that the wind created by its gyration redirected the lightning current. Now, since your other jutsu is to zap someone to death through skin contact, you can't touch her unless her Poi acrobatic movements are stopped."

Nagayoshi nodded; not as defiant as few minutes ago. "Then how are we going to stop the Poi acrobatics?"

"Grab my right hand." Kakuzu said, thrusting his hand before Nagayoshi.

Nagayoshi gave a skeptic look. "Are you that afraid to lose me, Oniisan?"

Kakuzu's eyebrows dropped and furrowed instantly at her unnecessary comment. "_Hold. It!"_ he hissed angrily.

"Okay…okay…. Jeez…" Nagayoshi obeyed Kakuzu's order and grabbed the wrist of her brother's right hand. She put on a pre-running stance and waited for Kakuzu's signal and extra tips.

"When I give the signal, release my hand." Kakuzu muttered.

The kunoichi nodded. "Gotcha."

"You can start running whenever you like."

Nagayoshi didn't waste her time and immediately went off running in high speed again. Ise began to get accustomed with Nagayoshi's way of fighting and had her Poi gyrated before she got near her. What confused her was that Kakuzu remained on his spot while she was sure the girl grabbed his wrist just then. She cared not for that; she just had to keep Nagayoshi at bay. Nagayoshi jumped to the air again. Ise knew she would approach her the same way, knowing that her other Poi was gone. She raised her spiked Poi and gyrate it faster by adding more power to her hips, shoulders and arms. It hit Nagayoshi straight at her cheekbone and the sharp protrusions might have punctured the other parts of her head. She almost felt guilty to kill a young girl.

However, there was no need to. Another Nagayoshi appeared in a blink of an eye on her lower and opened part. Ise gasped while the younger girl grinned deviously. She clenched her fist and smacked it against Ise's lower torso, just right at the diaphragm. Either she knew about it or not, Nagayoshi put too much force when she gave Ise that sideward punch and caused the circus acrobat to get flung backwards.

Normal people would have fallen, profusely and internally bleeding, or even die with that punch with such force struck at them, but Ise didn't. Despite the immense hemorrhage from the mouth, she struggled to keep her standing position. She panted before gaining energy and momentum to swung her Poi backwards—viciously scraping the earth soil—and then threw it back to Nagayoshi, this time optimistic to have the girl's head crushed.

"Nagayoshi! Now!" Kakuzu shouted from afar. She did as told before she evaded to the side, rolling on the ground during the process. Kakuzu could feel the vibration through the ground as the spiked Poi created a small earthquake. His eyes followed every movement the Poi made until it set on stationary mode in the basin it made. It was a matter of microseconds for him to make his action before Ise makes hers. Without further ado, he initiated his plan using a separated body part.

Black tendrils shot out to the air abundantly from Kakuzu's unattached right hand. They turned directions and tied the Poi and the chain linked it. The tendrils were unbreakable; only high-ranked ninjutsu could cut them and the Poi certainly was not a part of any ninjutsu. Finally learning their secret plan, Ise was too late to rescue her only weapon left.

"It's your chance! Go!" Kakuzu shouted again to Nagayoshi.

The sister nodded and dashed towards Ise, electric currents surged through her pores. The victim-to-be knew Nagayoshi was about to hurt or even kill her, even though she had no idea what she might be using on her. She somersaulted backwards before heading off hurriedly to the middle of the forest. Nagayoshi cursed silently, having her prey escaped before her grasp. She blinked and turned when she felt a tap on one of her shoulders.

"I'll take it from here." Kakuzu muttered before darted after the bounty woman. He had reattached his right hand, so there will be no problems for him to assault Ise. He may not be a detector like Nagayoshi, but he used his five senses to track her—ears being the most used. Ise was internally hemorrhaging before she fled, so the blood from her mouth made tracking easier. Moreover, her breathing intake difficulty was like a gong.

A devious smirk crossed his face underneath the mask. Kakuzu took a turn and soon he was running behind the feeling Ise. He let himself chuckle as the back of his cloak wobbled vehemently. Still moving his legs and hips rapidly, Kakuzu opened three buttons of his cloak, relieving his neck from choking on the collar as a white mask with red lines on the eyes and mouth emerged beside his face. His hands formed into a complex hand seal. _"Choushinsei Kirinketsu!"_

Nagayoshi gritted her teeth and spontaneously clamped her ears when she heard an explosion not too far from her position. She crossed her arms and tilted her neck to the side. One hand of hers massaged her temple. "He shouldn't have gone that far." she said to herself. She sighed, "Oniisan…what is wrong with you—using a mask's technique to kill a bounty?" She shook her head and turned around and found herself staring at the spiked Poi, still unscathed despite the numerous impacts on earth and rock. She decided to walk towards it and studied over its painfully prickly glory. She tried to drag it by pulling its chain. She grunted and struggled but managed to get the Poi out of the curve after several effortful tries. Indeed, the Poi was clean from scratches. Its unusual shape—despite looking like a large club—triggered Nagayoshi's interest. That interest soon spawned a grin.

"Got the bounty." Kakuzu said, returning from his short fight. He had Ise's body carried by pulling her tank top. "We better get going before someone comes here." He suddenly stopped upon looking Nagayoshi rolling a scroll closed and tied it with a rope. An eyebrow of his rose. "What's that for?"

"I'm stealing her weapon. After that I'm going to sell it when we get into a town." Nagayoshi answered, storing the scroll into her bag's front pocket that was filled with a number of scrolls. "This isn't the first time."

"Where did you learn of selling weapons?" Kakuzu asked; the siblings started walking to their next destination.

"Some time during your suspension. I was in this town when I, out of boredom, sneaked into a weapon shop and saw an old man offering weapons to the owner of the shop. Then I asked that old man about selling weapons and told me a lot of things about it. Apparently, not only weapon merchants want to buy them, but collectors too." Nagayoshi answered gleefully. "I thought if for some reason we can't go on missions together, I have to find a way to make my own money. And since Itachi and Kisame aren't really into bounty hunting, well, this is my solution for that." she added, grinning to Kakuzu.

The much older brother chuckled, ruffling his sister's hair. "Not a bad idea, to be honest. But don't they give a little money?"

"Well, yeah. The most expensive I've ever offered was five hundred thousand Ryou, but that's enough for me."

Kakuzu chuckled again. Then he said, "It looks like you starting to become like me."

And Nagayoshi stopped dead in her tracks. "_WHAT?_"

* * *

**Haaa…damn it! There were so many hindrances on this one! The writer's block was even worse than the one happening on Treachery! I hope after this one, my idea can run fluently like how it used to, especially that I've thought about the siblings' first encounter with Hokko far when this series had just started. For those who thought that after Ryouken is going to be Hidan, I'm sorry, you're wrong. I think it's too early to introduce Hidan—especially that he once mentioned that he's a new member before Tobi comes in. So…I think we're going to know Hokko for a really long time. (gringrin)**

**Translation:**

**_Choushinsei Kirinketsu: "Supernova Dragon's Blood"_**

_Next: Kakuzu and Nagayoshi's first encounter with Hokko, Kakuzu's partner-to-be. Will Kakuzu's pessimistic expectation be right or will it be wrong?_


	27. The Colossus Red Gate

**Chapter 26: The Colossus Fire Gate**

A sigh—an exasperated one. Well, two, actually—if you think that dogs sigh.

"How long does it take from Amegakure to this place? It's less than one small country apart, but you still can't make it within less than _two_ days?" Katana roared halfway furiously. The listeners, a pair of adoptive siblings, could just direct their eyes heavenwards. Shirozaki, the white half-wolf half-dog, supported his master by growling at both Nagayoshi and Kakuzu as Katana kept on yelling at them.

"Oi! I thought I'm in charge right here!" Kakuzu finally snapped back. "Anyway, I'm back from suspension and we're here. Now how about that data Konan sent to you?"

Katana rolled her eyes and flapped an A4-sized envelope in front of her face. "Right here, with me." she said, trying to forget Kakuzu's tardiness. She then handed the envelope to Kakuzu. He took a quick skim of the data, which mostly consisting of criminal records and history. His criminal records were what concerned the masked ninja.

Apparently, the man named Hokko—which was supposed to be his next new partner—did not only just murdered 39 families and kidnapped the children in his village alone. He was said to have ventured across the world for the last forty years and murdered random houses and kidnapped the children from those houses. Forty years…god knows how many children he had kidnapped throughout those years. Despite the seven-year lockdown (which was supposed to twenty years, by the way), the children's whereabouts—as Pein said it—was still unknown. And there was another thing that upset Kakuzu…

The lack of photographs.

How was he supposed to identify his next new partner?

Grumbling and snarling under his breath, Kakuzu blindly handed the envelope to Nagayoshi for her to read. He turned back to Katana, now with lighter atmosphere, and he began to ask for details. "You got any clues about where he might be?"

"With a little effort, yeah. It's not easy to find this one. I've asked about him from his victims' neighbors and eyewitnesses from the past ten years. They described him wearing an eye patch over his right eye and a hat. And…there is one thing consistent about him from what I heard." Katana explained, cupping her chin. At the last mention of the detail, she caught Kakuzu's inquisitiveness.

"And that consistent thing being…what exactly?" Kakuzu continued to ask.

"Cuban cigars."

"Cuban cigars?"

"My sources say he always smoked on his Cuban cigars, even as he made his kill. I tried to use that consistency as a clue, but you know he's not the only person smoking Cuban cigars all the time. So, instead, I went for his victims' remains. With Shirozaki's strong smelling, we tracked down the children he'd kidnapped. After a long search, we found them—or at least, we think we did."

Kakuzu raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'you think'? Did you found them or did you not? Be specific!"

"Well…" Katana tried to answer, but the difficulty made her brain work to find the right words to answer Kakuzu at the moment. Her hand went to the back of her head, rubbing it awkwardly. "The scent did lead us to one place and one place only, but the problem is beyond that."

Before Katana got the chance to continue, Nagayoshi interrupted, though she didn't really mean to. "Hey, are you sure about this, Oniisan? Did you read this part?"

Kakuzu turned back to his sister. "Which part? I just skimmed them; I don't remember much of it."

"This part." Nagayoshi pointed at said part while turning the page to Kakuzu and Katana. "The part that said his age was seventy-one years old." Seeing both of them speechless, Nagayoshi continued, "I guess I'm going to spend a few years fitting in with old men."

A nerve cracked on Kakuzu's forehead. "Is that a mockery or an insult?"

Nagayoshi blinked, genuinely innocently too. "What's the difference?"

"So as I was saying…!" Katana interjected, for she knew Kakuzu would start an argument due to Nagayoshi's innocent witty comment. "I got the lead to Hokko's location but I have another problem. I don't wanna spoil it for you guys, so…shall we get going…?"

"Right." Kakuzu replied. Before he went following Katana and Shirozaki to his prospective partner's place, he turned briskly to his sister; a long tanned finger pointing very closely to the crook of her nose. "I'll get back to you later, you little mockingbird."

Once the finger was off of her weakest sight, Nagayoshi spoke again, much to her companions' chagrin. "Mockingbird?" she snorted. "Hey, you're pretty good with puns, you know that, 'Niisan? You know, Akira-nee told me that the 'Naga' from my name is written in the kanji 'Tori' which means bird, or perhaps chicken from the zodiac. Funny; I'm sure not like them at all."

"Oh, I found one similarity." Kakuzu added, somewhat more good-naturedly.

"Really?"

"Yeah; you both just can't stop talking!"

Shirozaki craned his neck upwards, to look at his master, who just looked down with eyes showing surrender. She then shook her head slowly and slightly raised her hands up to her shoulders. She sighed, "This going to be a long day, Shiro…"

**|-oOo-|**

The journey to find Hokko's current location took less time than Kakuzu expected. He thought he would have to cross a few villages and business districts, but apparently not. In fact, there seemed to be no life whatsoever around them at that time. It had trees, bushes, shrubs, rivers, animals…and carcasses. However, no human, except the three of them, was spotted so far. It started to make sense in the masked ninja's mind. Hokko was a high-classed criminal, very much like himself. It was no wonder he would chose this place. Moreover, a filthy, foul-smelled, barren wasteland of animal corpses expanded for nearly ten miles. It still surprised him to see the two former Inuzuka clan members leading him could actually bear with the smell. He knew how sharp their noses are; there was no telling how much they actually suffer from this ordeal—especially that they have to smell for the track to Hokko's.

The ten-mile highway of doom ceased at last, to their utter relief. They took a few short minutes of rest to take a big breather. Even Kakuzu's mask couldn't help blocking off the scent. The smell of old barren gigantic animal and human carcasses was terrible beyond all reason that Kakuzu had to take off his mask, regardless of his own personal rule of never taking off his mask during travels. Before continuing, they ate a little snack to replenish their lost energy. Not too long after that, they re-embarked their journey.

Another carpet of greens lay ahead of them. The trees on this section was significantly bushier and, perhaps, healthier, judging from the towering heights. These trees must be very old, even older than Kakuzu himself. Their copious number of leaves gave a nearly dark shade to the ground, making impossibilities for younger trees to grow with the lack of sunlight. Not only blocking the travelers from seeing the sky, it also disabled them from looking what was ahead. It was worth it though, for the trees turned to be a box concealing a gift inside. Katana and Shirozaki had been here, though only once, but Kakuzu and Nagayoshi had not. What stood before them surely was a big surprise.

They had seen palaces from the ancient times told in the history books. Those palaces have high, towering buildings, but their gate was short and made of rock. What they saw rather the other way around. They couldn't see the palace; they were not even sure if there was a palace. The gate was literally way bigger than the residence! Kakuzu estimated the height of the gate equal to a seven-storey building and the thickness of the gate was equal to two adult men aligned side-by-side. God knows how he was supposed to open this gate. Perhaps using contraptions?

Still suspicious of this gigantic shocker, Kakuzu climbed the nearest and tallest tree to see what may the gate was guarding. As if a colossal gate was not enough, another spectacle made his eyes expanded to their limits. There was no palace, but it was still outrageous. If only the tree was a few meters taller, he could have seen everything. He hurriedly ran down the tree and informed his shocking discovery to the girls. "You won't believe what I saw from up there." he said, his eyes still bulging with astonishment. He did not wait for any vocal response from the girls, so he continued, "There's a village behind that thing! And I'm pretty sure this isn't the only portal of the gate. I mean, the gate circled the whole village!"

"How big do you think the village is?" Katana asked, bewildered by Kakuzu's sizeable discovery.

"I think…it's about 80-85 square miles. Maybe less. Anyway, there could be hundreds or thousands of lives behind that gate."

"Why don't we just go inside and find out?" Nagayoshi suggested, beginning to walk towards the king of gates. As she walked, Kakuzu's black and red cloak covered the corner of her left sight. A large dark hand slightly weighed her shoulder.

"Should there be any fights, stay put and let me handle it." he said, grimly to some extent.

"What happened to teamwork?" Nagayoshi complained. She winced immediately afterwards due to her shoulder being crushed by Kakuzu's powerful fingers. "Oniisan, it hurts!"

"I'm serious, Nagayoshi! Whatever happens, stay put! This guy deals with children. Do you think I'd let something like what Ryouken did happen again?" Kakuzu snarled menacingly. He shot a pair of poisonous glare to his sister, shutting her up effectively as well as causing spine chills. He unhanded Nagayoshi's shoulder, leaving her rubbing her shoulder blade.

A few hundred meters of walking later, the red gate of concrete stood colossally in front of them. It was even monstrous when they see it from up close. A giant pair of kanji 'kazan' or 'volcano' bedecked the gargantuan gate in bright yellow paint. Despite the seven-storey tall entrance, there seemed to be a small opening positioned as high as Kakuzu's neck. The three ninjas and the canine finally stood face-to-face with the gate and they automatically and in unison craned their neck to look up. Kakuzu was the first to revert back his attention to the emperor of doors and whatever lies behind its eye-hurting scarlet glory.

"Should I knock on it or knock it down?" Kakuzu asked, crackling his fingers in preparation of doing the second and more preferable choice. Nagayoshi gave him her trusty elbow nudge. "YOWCH!"

"Seriously, Oniisan, you're being strangely rough lately." Nagayoshi growled at her brother crossly. She began to look around, knowing a normal knock would not alert the people living inside about the arrival of guests. She didn't need to look for long or far away; the alert device was large—very large—that it was immediately spotted by the three ninjas. Nagayoshi rushed towards the bell and pulled the rope, causing it to sway and made a couple of ear-splitting _'DONG!'_

The three of them and Shirozaki shut their ears, preventing their ear drums from imploding. Luckily, there were only two 'dongs' or else they would not hear anything for another day. The sound wave, however, still lingered in their whole nerves and still caused their teeth to sting.

The small opening's wooden barrier slid aside, revealing a pair of amber-colored eyes, glaring at Kakuzu that was currently standing straight in front of them. There was a subdual grumble and then… "What do you want?" …came a sour voice of a teenage girl.

Kakuzu twitched at the girl's boorish questioning. He cleared his throat. "We're here to see a man named Hokko." he answered. In his head, he had already played possible scenes where this girl will deny any of his questions with the same sour, impolite tone. If she does, he will be more than happy to bring the gate down, regardless of any protective jutsu surrounding the gate.

The girl didn't answer as he waited patiently; instead, her eyes wandered to look at Katana and Nagayoshi. The youngest of the girls waved innocently with a big grin. She returned her gaze to the only human man of the group. "Are either of them gonna stay here?" she asked, less harshly as earlier.

Kakuzu's eyes dilated. "What—no! We're looking for Hokko—only. Now open this door…" Kakuzu slowly and coldly threatened, "…or I'll bring it down myself."

"Oniisan!"

"Shut up, Nagayoshi!"

The amber-eyed girl slanted those orbs of her and their tone flashed with anger and sheer animosity was practically vomited. "You're a bounty hunter, aren't you?" The opening slammed shut, even before Kakuzu got to say his part. Several clicking sounds followed the slamming and before long, a man-sized door was opened. A girl—perhaps as old and as tall as Katana—with dark red hair that reached down past her shoulders came out. Those amber eyes belonged to her.

"Uh-oh…not good…" Nagayoshi squeaked.

The red haired girl crashed the door shut. Surprisingly, despite the overly violent treatment, the door was unscathed from any cracks. Kakuzu stepped back a little from her, though not from discourage, and observed the young human before him. Her appearance sort of fitted her snappy attitude: the rolled up shorts, plain baggy t-shirt, wooden clogs, and a falchion strapped to her hips. Moreover, she got a fire-breathing dragon tattoo on her left cheek down to her neck and possibly to her upper left breast or shoulder too, but the t-shirt concealed it. No wonder she was chosen as a gatekeeper.

She pulled her falchion and aimed it to Kakuzu's chest. She and the masked ninja made accusatory eye contact for a moment before the girl spoke up again. "Are you a bounty hunter or not?" she asked forebodingly.

Kakuzu did not release his green-in-red eyes from her amber-in-white ones. On the other hand, both Nagayoshi and Katana went back and forth looking from him to the bad-mannered girl. "Yes, I am." Kakuzu answered casually.

The animus in her eyes blazed even more wildly at his answer. She pulled her sword back slightly, her feet and hips making a sturdier stance. Her teeth were grinding against each other and her eyebrows furrowed deeply. "I knew it! You come to get money out of his head! DIE!" With a movement of her waist and shoulders, she powerfully thrust her falchion straight at Kakuzu's chest. Kakuzu was faster, thus the sword only pierced the air.

The girl did not stop; like a hunting dog, she chased Kakuzu wherever he goes while swinging her wide-length blade vehemently. They fought in cat-and-dog manner around the barriers of the mysterious village in which the girl lived. One time, Kakuzu was cornered between the concrete barriers and the red-headed girl used that chance to slice him. Kakuzu extended his hand out, hardened it into a stone, and put it up parallel to the sword. With his arm strong as a rock and unbeatable by thin metal, the sword harmlessly bumped his wrist and slid down his arm. The girl's hand soon was in his reach and before an eye blinked, he caught her wrists.

She grunted in unladylike fashion, squirming to get her hands off from Kakuzu's bigger ones. It was no easy job and Kakuzu didn't plan to make it that way. He twisted them, hard but not breaking the bones. The falchion fell from her hands and smashed the ground with a clang. Kakuzu kicked the sword far from the both of them and that made the girl roar in more fury. He ruthlessly tugged her wrists, bringing her close to him so she could hear him clearly. "I may have admitted that I'm a bounty hunter, but I'm not here to collect his prize!" Kakuzu yelled at her.

Despite the loud vocalization, the girl didn't seem to hear him. With much power and force, she got bring her hands together while still in Kakuzu's brute clutch. She formed her fingers into two seals and shouted, _"Katon: Aka-ari No Kamikizu!"_ Adrenaline spawned by her brain enabled her to make a rapid, out-of-the-blue movement and she turned the tables by spinning her wrists and instead grabbed Kakuzu's. Small red dots crawled from the tips of her fingers to Kakuzu's hands and then up to his arms. Kakuzu shouted in pain; the dots burned his skin. He yanked his hands away from hers and as the skin contact ceased, so did the itching and burning feeling.

The red-headed girl commenced another series of hand seal, this time longer and more familiar. _"Katon: Gokakyu No Jutsu!" _she blew hot air through her mouth and directed it at Kakuzu.

Kakuzu saw the giant fire ball coming and ignoring the imprints of fire weld to his hands, he made a series of hand seals. _"Suijinheki!"_ He shouted and underground water burst out of the ground and coated him from the harms of the great fireball.

Katana and Nagayoshi stood and watched with their fingers crossed. The girl was quite strong and her temper only made her more powerful. Nagayoshi's hands suddenly flew to her head. "Come on! That girl doesn't seem to cease fire any time soon!" she ranted.

"Then we should help him!" Katana retorted.

"He said we have to stay put!" Nagayoshi snapped. "I'd love to disobey him, but you should see his eyes when he said that."

A heavy drag reverberated from the girl's side. Footsteps were loudly heard before it disappeared under the same drag's louder noise. "Gosh! It's gettin' hot out here, dontcha think, gals?"

Nagayoshi blinked, her hands dropped dramatically from her head. She pointed reluctantly at the speaker, "You…"

The red-headed girl cut her breath and ceased fire. She hopped back and climbed high up the barriers. She made another set of complicated hand seals and held out a hand, palm opened towards her masked target. A devious grin crossed her face as she shouted, _"Isoguchi No Dokueki!"_ Hot air began to fly in a strange way, sucked by the girl's thrust out hand palm. As the hot air built up, so did a bright red and orange compressed flame. And like any compressed stuffs, once she decides to release the hold, the damage would be devastating. Thinking critically, Kakuzu began to form hand seals, but it was all for nothing.

"Hold on now, sweetie." A hand much bigger than the red-head girl's held her hands and gently got them to stay down. The other hand was on top of her head as the arm slung friendly around her shoulders. Down on earth, Kakuzu released his previously completed hand seal and cancelled his jutsu. He stared suspiciously at the man embracing the girl, wondering.

"He's a bounty hunter…" the girl hissed, trying not to behave too rude. "And he's looking for you."

"But you heard him; he ain't here for my head." The man let the girl go and jumped down to the ground easily without breaking a bone. Now that he was in front of Kakuzu, the masked ninja could see his details clearly. The man, who seemed to be the girl's master or something, wore a brown cowboy hat and under that hat there was absolutely no hair spotted. His right eye was covered by a black eye patch with white seams on the edges. He had this warm smile, so friendly, and his habit of holding a Cuban cigar between his two rows of teeth made him look friendlier.

Cuban cigar… Kakuzu knew and was sure the man standing and making a direct eye contact with him was his prospective partner. He chose to save it for later.

"Sorry for the rumpus, mate. Tera-chan always hates bounty hunters who're lookin' for me." the bald man said good-naturedly. Despite not knowing Kakuzu just yet, he encircled his arm around Kakuzu's neck, much to his discomfort. At the same time, his treatment towards him brought him to a short-distanced nostalgia. "Rather than standin' around this…foul-smelled forest, how about we get inside my safe haven and have a cup of tea?"

"Have it your way." Kakuzu answered humbly, unhooking the man's arm from his neck. Kakuzu and his group followed Hokko and Tera's path.

It appears that the size of the gate was just for show. The real entrance's size was only one-and-a-half bigger than normal door size. Tera, the amber-eyed girl, ceased to follow Hokko and the guests, for she was the gatekeeper. The guests then witnessed the source of the clicks they heard from the outside before Tera stormed out to attack at Kakuzu earlier—which was actually the gate's elaborate primitive security. From top to bottom, there were roughly eight to ten locks of different sizes.

The inside of this so-called 'safe haven' was even more astounding. It caused Kakuzu to involuntarily get reminded of his age. Along the streets there were only children, teenagers, and young adults who were prepared to leave the place to search for a new home and/or to explore a new world. There were adults, but so far, they had only spotted three. The discovery hit Kakuzu on his curiosity as of where could Hokko have kept the kids he kidnapped. This safe haven was where. Everything made sense now. Yet Kakuzu would dare not let his guard down.

Hokko's house was noticeably bigger than the other houses. However, once inside, it was not as fancy. The interior was as simple as any traditional house. Hokko brought them to the living room, the biggest of all rooms, and told a young maid to get him and his guests a cup of tea. The young maid obeyed and trod out of the room.

"So!" Hokko began all of a sudden, returning Kakuzu's focus to him, "Tera-chan said you're lookin' for me. Mind you, anybody threatening my life or the kids' won't ever get out of this haven—well, at least, not without a puncture on one of the vital organs."

"If I do look forward to have your dead body, then I would have done it the second I saw your face." Kakuzu answered calmly.

Hokko nodded. "Maybe; or you're waitin' for the right time to kill me without making too much scene."

"Look at my face; do I look like I'm lying?"

The bald man smirked wryly and chuckled in the same manner. "I would if you don't have that…turban all over your face."

Kakuzu didn't say anything. His green eyes stared at Hokko's only blue one. The silence continued for a few seconds until Kakuzu decided to cut it off. "It's confidential. Other than these two girls and the dog, I won't show my face to anybody else."

"How about your teammates? You can't possibly have these girls as your business partner. They don't even wear the same outfit as you."

"You knew?"

"Only some strange organization would make a costume like that."

Under his mask, Kakuzu sneered. "Right…"

Hokko lightheartedly laughed, right as the young maid return with the teas. Hokko thanked the girl and continued, "Alright, I believe you now. So what brings you to my beautiful safe haven of abused kids?"

Kakuzu's primary heart bumped at the mention of abused kids. His brain then forced his nerves to cool down and focus. "The 'strange' organization I'm in is short on members. Its members are all S-ranked criminals and since you're basically one, you're qualified. So, to make long story short, I'm inviting you to become a member."

Hokko's expression turned grave after Kakuzu stated his main purpose. The Cuban cigar was at its shortest length and soon was about to run out of fuel. Hokko picked the cigar out of his mouth and flattened it in the ashtray. His darker expression failed to escape Kakuzu's eyes. "Is that what I am now? An S-ranked criminal? I mean, I know I did murders but I never knew it would actually reach the S level. I guess I don't know the extent of my own doing."

"That is the fact." Kakuzu replied. Quite surprising to Nagayoshi, he talked much more casually than usual. She did not know what he had in mind right now. Kakuzu hid many things behind the curtain, most of them he guarded so protectively that even she, his sister—probably the most trustworthy person living in his life at the moment, couldn't get a peek of. The reason of his casualness was probably behind that curtain now.

"What might happen if I turn down the invitation?" Hokko asked, slight reluctance in his voice.

"I send your answer to the leader and wait for his orders. Usually, I might have to kill those who refuse. And when I fight, I will not hesitate. My powers can be heavily destructive; I can turn this city into ancient ruins in no time. So if you care about this safe haven of yours, I suggest you choose carefully. The death sentence is the best scenario that can happen if you refuse."

Hokko got up to his feet and headed to the window, gazing out upon a small district full of children playing and doing chores. He rummaged his hand into the pocket of his pants and pulled another Cuban cigar. He whispered something and blew his breath to one end of the cigar. There was puff, a billow of smoke, and the cigar was lighted up. Behind him, in the middle of the room, Kakuzu finally got the chance to open his mask and took a quick sip before Hokko turned around.

Hokko held the big brown cigar between his fingers and huffed out a ring of tobacco smoke. He sighed, "The day's getting' darker. Let Himawari-chan show you your rooms." he said, rather solemnly. The young maid from earlier appeared at his call and she obediently showed the guests their room. While they were gone, Hokko continued to drown in his thoughts.

Kakuzu explained to the young maid—whose name he learned to be Himawari—that he won't need his own room because, he mocked a little, Nagayoshi would beg to sleep with him. Of course, that little mockery (possibly the continuation of their argument earlier in the day) was accepted badly by Nagayoshi herself. She punched his shoulder, hurt him slightly. Well, she could hurt him more, but she wasn't fighting against him so there was no need. While the siblings sleep together as usual (only this time, they got to have their own futon), Katana and Shirozaki were to sleep in a separate room from theirs. And since Kakuzu was now alone with his sister, he could freely open his mask and headgear.

"Did you see out there, Oniisan? This place is full of children; most of them are my age. Do you think what I'm thinking?" Nagayoshi asked her brother as she looked at the houses.

"I don't know. What are you thinking?" Kakuzu answered half-heartedly. He did not need to see it; he knew Nagayoshi was giving him a sour look.

"I think maybe your negative thoughts are wrong. I don't think Hokko is someone like Ryouken; if any, he's the exact opposite! He gives these kids a better environment to live in and provide them with countless friends." Nagayoshi continued. Her obsidian eyes sank deeper into the horizon, watching every child play their favorite games with their friends. She watched a certain group of kids. They were playing hopscotch. Something she rarely got to play when she was a child. When she was a child, the game that she played every day was hide-and-seek…from angry, belligerent people.

Kakuzu noticed the lost of her voice and the silence made him focus onto his sister. He could guess what was on her mind. He stood and walked towards her. He put one big hand on top of her head, not as roughly as usual, but, instead, more comforting than usual. Nagayoshi lifted her head up, her eyes to his. In a moderate pace, a smile crept up her face.

"I'm still not convinced about him being the opposite of the Baka. I'm gonna need stronger proof than that." Kakuzu said, sitting down and leaned against the wall. He took Nagayoshi's travelling bag, rummaging the insides as he added, "Since we don't know how long this guy is going to take to make his decision, we might as well make ourselves at home. Why don't you go and talk with the kids living around here?"

"Me? Alone?" Nagayoshi turned briskly, pointing at herself in shock.

"Since when do I need to be your full-time babysitter? Aren't you pretty good with talking? Besides, they're kids of your age."

"Ah…I don't know. I don't think I'll fit in well." Nagayoshi answered timidly, rubbing the back of her neck.

"It doesn't matter if you've been talking to adults ever since our escape from Kumo. You're still a kid; what you're talking about will immediately fit with their ears. That is…if you avoid talking about your killing experiences." Kakuzu replied, his hand took an apple from her bag. "Have you forgotten how to socialize already?"

"No. I speak with people all the time. How could I forget?"

"Then it should be easy. You just need to ask them a couple of things, anyway. Here." Kakuzu handed the apple to Nagayoshi who received it unquestioningly. He watched the apple lost its first chunk of meat as her teeth began to tear its red skin. She grinned at him after swallowing said chunk and he smirked back at her.

* * *

**I just realize how small Nagayoshi's role is in this chapter. She did so little talking and so little action. And…I bring back Katana and Shirozaki! Although Shiro-kun almost had no role at all other than following the ninjas around. Eh, what can I do? It just happened to be that way! The character Hokko is supposed to have a Southern accent, but I can't really write it down and I did so little research about it so…it's up to you guys to make it happen.**

**Tera, the amber-eyed girl, is an old OC of mine. Her full name is Tera Kota and by seeing that, you should know where I got the name from. In the old version of her, she was not as violent and rude as this one. She was actually quite humble, although, true, she gets out of control once she's furious. Her drastic change in behavior was because I thought of Hiyori from Bleach when I was thinking of her and Kakuzu's fight scene. Her original power was actually like Human Torch from Fantastic 4 but I thought it was a little Sue-ish and I've used it on another character already. Her full story (or so to speak) comes in the next chapter!**

**Translation:  
_Katon: Aka-ari No Kamikizu_: 'Fire Style: Red Ants' Bite'  
_Isoguchi No Dokueki_: 'Venom in Rushing Blood' [I think so…I sort of forget…]**


	28. The Place We Call Home

**Chapter 27: The Place We Call Home**

"Hey, it's the girl that came with that old man, the big sister and the dog!" a boy pointed at a boy-looking girl which was Nagayoshi, as we know it. He would have thought she was a boy if he didn't notice some proof that says she was indeed a girl. Good for Nagayoshi she didn't wear her usual black jacket that completely covered her yet-to-grow breasts.

"She's Hokko-tousama's guest." said another boy, slightly taller than the one before.

"We should go and talk to her. She looks like a nice girl. She's not like Tera."

Nagayoshi's trained ears caught them speaking of her—from twenty meters away. It felt funny inside of her; she remembered how much of a mere bacterium she was when she was still a schoolgirl. Without changing her outer expression, she laughed inside. She then proceeded doing what she was supposed to do and so she stood and approached the two whispering boys.

"Whoa, she's coming!" the second boy exclaimed when Nagayoshi stepped closer towards him and his friend. They stood stiffly upon waiting for her. Once Nagayoshi was close enough from them, the first boy waved his arms awkwardly. "Hi…you, uh, wanna play football with us?"

Suddenly, his friend nudged him hard. "Are you stupid or something? Girls don't like football!" he whispered harshly.

"Not all girls hate it." retorted the first boy.

"I can hear you guys clearly, you know." Nagayoshi said lazily. She rolled her eyes when the boys reacted too late. "And…I don't mind playing football, but I can't play right now. Well, unless something delays the next journey."

"So what are you doing right now?"

"Nothing. I'm just walking around the town, sightseeing."

"Oh. What do you think about this place? Hokko-tousama made this place long time ago. It's a place every kids want to live in." said the second boy.

"This place isn't so bad. I won't mind if I have to stay longer."

"You even might want to stay forever! This place is great!" the first boy bragged, flailing his arms to the air. He then dropped his arms down dramatically, arousing Nagayoshi's curiosity. "Oh, you're from the outside world, right? How is it?"

The first boy's question got an immediate agreement from his friend, who nodded vigorously. "Yeah! Is it still scary?"

"Is it still dark?"

"And full of scary adults?"

Nagayoshi suddenly felt overwhelmed with the questions. It was unlike what she had heard before. If there were questions asked to her, she thought it would be the absolute contrast to what was given to her by those boys. She blinked rapidly, clearly showing the boys she was discombobulated. She opened her mouth rather hesitantly. "What are you guys talking about? The 'outside world' isn't that dark and gloomy. Well, yeah, there are still scary people outside but if you behave correctly, they'll leave you alone." It was after she spoke did she smelled something fishy from their questions. "What…happened…to you guys?"

The boys hushed in-sync. Their eyes looked to each other's uncertainly, triggering Nagayoshi's irritation. In her impatience to wait their response, she tapped her feet rhythmically. She crossed her arms to emphasize her impatience. The boys noticed her reaction and laughed hesitantly, grabbing their ball. "Uhm…it's nice to meet you! We have to go; our friends are waiting!" said the first boy hurriedly. He went off, followed by his friend.

"Bye!" the second boy hollered.

Nagayoshi blinked and attempted to catch them but they didn't seem to hear her as she shouted, "Hey, wait!" She scratched her head, looking at their fast departure. She may be faster than them, but she didn't want to scare the kids, seeing that they were not ninjas. She sighed exasperatedly. "This is getting hopeless. They're the twelfth and thirteenth kids to ditch me clueless." she ranted.

"That's because you're asking them the wrong question." interjected a rougher girl's voice. Her suddenness caused Nagayoshi (who switched off her electromagnetic detector ability) to turn around with a start. It was yesterday's fire-headed girl.

"It's you from yesterday." Nagayoshi said, pointing a finger to her.

"It's Tera, goddammit! Haven't Hokko-tousama told you my name, or at least mentioned it?" she snarled snappily at Nagayoshi. The black-haired girl cringed back. In her mind, a criticism of this girl's attitude was written on the wall of her brain. The criticism said: _"Somehow she makes Kakuzu look ten times kinder and less Rottweiler-like."_

"Okay, Tera. Chill out…I know your name already. Is it wrong if I pointed you in a way I remember the most? You _are_ the girl I met yesterday, after all." Nagayoshi retorted, not as snappy as Tera at all.

"Fine, I get your point." Tera crossed her arms.

Nagayoshi blew a thick gush of air from her nose. "Aren't you supposed to guard the gate or something?" she asked.

"It's not my shift yet. I'll start working in the afternoon. By the way, what are you doing all day, asking those kids?" Tera asked, her fiery attitude had died almost instantly.

"My brother asked me to do it. He wants to know more about Hokko and his doings to these kids. I've been asking all morning, but they all ran away from me once I get to the very main point of my act of socialization." Nagayoshi rambled, scratching her chin in the process.

Tera sighed heavily, shaking her head. "Well, duh! Your question is sort of a taboo to these kids! Of course they won't give you any answers."

At Tera's answer, Nagayoshi's hopes fell into a deep pit simultaneously. She frowned in disappointment. "Well, that's hopeless…" she groaned.

"That's why you got me!" Tera suddenly pointed herself with her thumb. Her unexpected change of behavior caused Nagayoshi to blink several times before perking one of her eyebrows. "Unlike the others, I've buried my old injuries deep inside my heart! I won't chicken out like them!"

That one brightened Nagayoshi's day in a flick of a finger. Her face beamed. "Really? You'd tell me?"

"Sure! But…" Tera swooshed an arm down, with her index finger pointed out, and stopped it right in front of Nagayoshi's face. "You have to buy me the best Onigiri in town!" she stated shamelessly, grinning toothily. The grin was immediately replied with a gaping lower jaw.

"Wh-WHAT?"

**|-oOo-|**

"You're lucky I'm not my brother…" Nagayoshi grumbled as she and Tera sat on top of a building's roof, facing to the other colossus gate which was blue instead of red. She checked her purse; that 'Best Onigiri' was quite expensive, despite for only containing five rice balls per package. Nagayoshi didn't buy anything for she always carried her snack everywhere she goes.

Tera ignored her complaints and chomped on the snack she got from Nagayoshi's money. She chewed and swallowed quickly, making a gulping noise as she sent the half-digested traditional snack into her stomach. "Okay, deal's a deal. What do you want to ask?"

Pocketing her purse, she spoke, "I just wanted to ask what makes Hokko so valuable to these kids. You see, we have no clue about it and my brother is the one who gets antsy when he was provided with very limited information."

"Wow…that's like the easiest question ever asked. Every kid knows why. Hokko-tousama didn't just kill our parents; he saved us from them." Tera answered. Proven from how fluent she talked that she was indeed not scared of talking about it.

"Saved you? From what? Daily chores?"

"No, ya idiot!" she snapped, causing Nagayoshi to cringe due to her inappropriate way of answering a guessing question. "She saved us from getting abused for the rest of our lives! Look at those kids!" she spread her arms towards the community of kids and young people. "They came from abusive families. All of them; including myself. When our parents mercilessly reined in tyranny over our houses, Hokko-tousama came and saved us all. He then brought us here, to this place he called safe haven—home."

Nagayoshi watched and listened intently. Hokko was surely a figure so big to this place. She could see from Tera's way of talking about him and the glint of pride and admiration in her eyes. "And he had been doing this for forty years…. How about the kids who had grown into adults?"

"Some of them stay here to help Tousama taking care of this place in his way. The others went out to venture the outside world and find a new life. I plan to go outside too when I'm older."

"You can go now; why don't you?" Nagayoshi asked.

Tera leaned back. "I don't know…it's just…I can't imagine not living in this town anymore."

"How bad is it going to be? Well, yeah, if you choose to be a ninja for your career, it's not going to be a pretty sight most of the time." Nagayoshi chomped on her apple, staring at the passing storks on the sky. Another question then came up to her mind again. "Come to think of it, why are and all the kids call Hokko 'Hokko-tousama'?"

"It's obvious. He's basically our father. We can't imagine any title better than 'tousama'. We may be not related by blood, but we consider him our father, therefore all the kids here are practically brothers and sisters. It's just like you and your…'brother'…"

Nagayoshi turned her head to the red-headed girl, blinking.

"I know from the second I saw you two that you can't possibly be actual brother and sister. Especially that he looked too much like your dad than your brother." Tera said plainly.

The black-haired kunoichi shrugged. "He wanted it that way."

"Now it's my turn to ask you a question." Tera said, facing Nagayoshi straight to her apple-chomping face. She waited. "Is your brother really going to kill Hokko-tousama if he refuses the invitation?" Tera's tone was sharp and heavy, coated thickly with wariness and anger was ready to flicker to life.

Nagayoshi's eyes turned downcast. She glumly gazed at older citizens watching over the younger ones. She then faced the sky; a giant white cloud conveniently sat high above her face, shading her from the near-noon sun. "Honestly, I don't know. Even if the order is already given, I still can't change the decision. I know it's mean for me to say this, especially that he's my brother, but…you can have your fit of rage on him. It's only fair…"

"You'd do that?" Tera's asked in disbelief.

"I have no choice. That's why if you want a win-win situation, pray that he'll accept it." Nagayoshi flew Tera a sober stare. "I mean business here."

Slowly, Tera's usually hard and rude attitude diminished as the conversation carried on. This time, she looked completely the exact opposite of her daily behavior. "The others won't like it if he's gone…"

"At least he's still alive."

There was no reply whatsoever from the fire girl. Finally, like the other kids, she ceased to talk.

**|-oOo-|**

"She said that?" Kakuzu asked, diverting his gaze from a brown-covered book called _'Pride and Preconception' _by Jun Aihara. Nagayoshi had just returned from her assignment and had just told Kakuzu everything she got from Tera. He shut the book with a flop and propped his elbow on the small table as a portion of his face leaned against his hand. He was silent for a good few seconds. "Well…I did some research myself."

"You did?" Nagayoshi asked, glad that the uncomfortable silence was over. "What did you get?"

"More or less the same as you." he answered. "Maybe you're right, Nagayoshi." he suddenly added. His sister blinked confusedly, but she waited for him to continue. "Maybe I shouldn't be so paranoid. Pein-sama had every right to get angry at me."

As much as Nagayoshi longed to hear Kakuzu admit the mistake of his own words, but she did not celebrate or enthuse about it. She felt it was wrong to do so, thus she stayed silent. In fact, instead of beaming at the slightest, she was growing somber. "I get it now, Oniisan. It's okay."

This time, Kakuzu was the one to look with confusion in his eyes. Like Nagayoshi who wasn't really expecting to hear him admitting his mistakes, he never expected Nagayoshi to understand his mistakes. He didn't really know how and why, but he was relieved that she would understand. A little of his burden was lifted from his shoulders. It may come back, but while it disappeared, he might as well enjoy it.

"Hey, Oniisan." Nagayoshi called after a long not-so-uncomfortable silence. She raised her head from looking down at the tatami and found that Kakuzu's eyes were already upon her, probably ever since she said she understood his mistakes. She continued, "I was thinking…maybe it's time for me to learn new jutsu. Looking at Tera yesterday, she—"

A knock on the door disrupted Nagayoshi's sentences in midway. It piqued her a little, but she decided to hold back her tongue as a tenor masculine voice spoke. "Kakuzu-san? Nagayoshi-san?" he called.

"It's us. Speak." Kakuzu replied casually, wearing his mask on while the young man was outside.

"Hokko-tousama wishes to speak to you. He's waiting in the living room right now."

"We'll be right there. Give us a minute." Kakuzu answered, taking his black and red uniform from the hanger and slid his arms into the sleeves. He returned to Nagayoshi, "You were saying?"

Nagayoshi shook her head. "I'll save it for later. I don't think it's the right time to talk about it."

Kakuzu nodded comprehensively as he buttoned his cloak. Leading the way, he and his sister slowly trod their way to the living room—the very first room they were introduced to when they got in here yesterday. It wasn't hard to spot that particular room; Kakuzu remembered it was positioned right in front of the traditional small pond with the bamboo fountain. Moreover, a young man was waiting in front of the door. Once he spotted the guests, he bowed deeply and opened the door for them.

It turned out, not only Hokko was waiting for the brother and sister.

* * *

**The last three months weren't the best months for writing. I keep getting sick, getting writer's block, and worse, distracted by a new game. Looks like you guys are going to get bored after this…and sorry for another VERY short chapter. As much as I want to write some action, this chapter and the chapter after this won't let me. I don't know about the next, though.**

**I found some time ago that Kakuzu's hobby is reading classics. I can't believe it; he actually has a sweet hobby. Initially, I wanted to make 'Pride and Prejudice' as one of his favorites, but since I don't want to get tangled in copyrights issues, I parodied the title and the author's name. Yes; Jun Aihara is my custom-made Japanese name for Jane Austen! I can't think of anything else. When people say classics, she's the first author to come up to my mind.**

_Next: Hokko waits for Kakuzu and Nagayoshi along with his trusty boys and girls. His answer is what Kakuzu needs._


	29. Thylacine At Dawn

**Chapter 28: Thylacine at Dawn**

A group of twelve men and women sat courteously behind and beside Hokko, like dutiful samurais. Despite the missing headbands, anybody could tell they were ninjas, probably trained and raised by Hokko himself. Most of the faces were unfamiliar to the siblings. All but one. Tera was one of them. Still, both Kakuzu and Nagayoshi were still clueless of their roles in this place. On the front, sat their father figure; Hokko, complete with his Cuban cigar, cowboy hat, and black eye patch. Despite the well-mannered sitting, Kakuzu couldn't help himself for feeling wary. He didn't know what would have come, but he just felt…strange.

"Kakuzu-san, last night and this early mornin', my council and I've been discussing about the invitation you gave me yesterday. We talked for hours and…we've come up with a decision." Hokko said, clipping his Cuban cigar between his fingers. He softly blew the smoke from inside his mouth. The ceiling fan prevented it from lingering around the room by sending it out through the window and door.

Kakuzu silently shifted his gaze from one councilman to another councilman. Most of them were young, even very young. There were a small number of adults, but they maybe were still in the thirties, obviously much younger than Hokko himself. Then the masked ninja focused his eyes on their postures. Passive, or so it seemed. They looked like they were not prepared to fight, but who knew. They might have a secret plan somewhere written inside their mind. That, and their 'father' was acting a little too casual, save for his way of speaking. Maybe the cowboy hat ninja had something in mind to do to him. Kakuzu's fingers fidgeted; if they were ready to fight, so was he.

"Well?" Nagayoshi asked, impatient of the long, long waiting.

"Be quiet!" Tera snapped all of a sudden. "You're ruining the moment!" Unknown to her, a young male on her far left buried his face in his hand and a female beside Tera rolled her eyes. Even Hokko was actually scowling.

"I understand the young girl's feeling." Hokko said, sucking and blowing a billow of smoke again. "Anyway, I've decided that I'm accepting your invitation as a member of…of…whatever your organization's called."

"Akatsuki." Kakuzu joined.

"Yeah, right. Well, it wasn't an easy choice. It took me hours and hours of thinkin'. But, hey, that's the use of kids! When we old timers are out of our time, they're here to replace us. Anyway, Minoru my boy here will be filling my seat. I trust him with all my life." he said, beckoning a blonde young man whose name he stated to be Minoru. He tapped him on the back and the blonde bowed.

Kakuzu let out a grunt equivalent to a comprehensive nod. "Wise choice, old man. That saves a lot of time for the both of us. Pack up the things you'll need. You're moving out by tomorrow afternoon. Don't bring too much, though; your room in the HQ isn't as big as your room here." Using his hand, he beckoned Nagayoshi to leave the room and back to theirs. He stopped for a moment, looking back slightly. "Oh, and thanks for the free lodge."

Hokko didn't verbally reply. He simply smirked and watched the sliding bamboo door closed loosely. His mature children gathered around him and began hugging him. The one who hugged the tightest was the youngest of the twelve, with amber eyes and red hair. Hokko opened his arms, forcing all his boys and girls into one oversized hug. Just for this once before he goes…the air can be a little poignant.

The masked Akatsuki could hear faint sobbing from the room he and his sister just exited. It was so much like a graduation party at schools where the children would see their friends for the last time before the ninja life separated them to walk on different paths. He hardly remembered his own graduation party. It was over decades ago that the tape was beginning to rot in the basement of his brain. He looked forward; his eyes landed on an oval-ish head with short, semi-choppy hair cut. How about her graduation party? The hugs and tears soon became swears and intense training…to kill her.

Kakuzu's feet froze, just right in front of the door to his and Nagayoshi's room. Nagayoshi, who had entered the room, noticed her brother standing outside and seemed like he didn't plan to step inside. She approached him, looking at his face in confusion. "Oniisan, what's the matter? Do you forget something?"

The brother blinked rapidly and stammered. "Uh, um…yeah… Uh, I gotta go talk to Katana. Her job's done now. She can go back while the sun's still up. I'll see you later." Then he strode off again, this time to a room on the east side of the house. Nagayoshi watched him pass for a while before she decided to get in and pack her own things. She will leave this town tomorrow afternoon and it would be better if she get prepared twelve hours in advance.

"Tag! You're it!" a child's voice echoed from afar; from the grassy field across the street. A girl was running to catch her friends. So far, they outran her. They looked tired of playing, but joyful nonetheless. Their bliss brought empathy to Nagayoshi. Out of blue, she giggled, particularly at the girl successfully tapped on a chubby boy who then fell due to her unintentional rough push.

Her keen ears heard the door slid aside. She thought it would be Kakuzu until she turned around and saw that the person coming to her room was much shorter than her brother. She blinked rapidly, "Tera?"

"Hey…" she replied almost lifelessly.

"Did you just cry?" Nagayoshi asked, inching closer to get a better look at Tera's face.

"I didn't cry!" she snapped at her in a burst of a second. Nagayoshi reared her head back, trying not to get her head bitten off by the red-headed kunoichi. However, it was obvious to Nagayoshi that Tera indeed did just cry. The black-haired girl tried not to mention it.

"Okay, okay…you didn't."

"You must be happy right now, right? Tousama had agreed to come with you and your brother." Tera continued, trying hard not to sound as if she just cried a few moments ago.

"I don't know if I'm happy, but I'm sure glad he accepted the invitation. It was faster than I expected though…" Nagayoshi replied, kneeling down and began to fill her bag with her and Kakuzu's stuffs.

"It was because of me." Tera said. "I made him choose to accept it."

Nagayoshi stopped filling her bag with stuffs. Her face now fully focused on Tera. "What do you mean you made him? You didn't hypnotize him, right?"

Tera glared at Nagayoshi. "When will you stop asking stupid questions? Of course, I didn't! I'm not a Genjutsu master, how could I? I persuaded him because I don't want him to die. Losing him is the worst that could happen in my life. He's everything to me, you know." She buried her face in her hands as she fell to her rear; her back leaned against the wooden wall. Feeling sorry for the surprisingly emotional girl, Nagayoshi handed her a small sachet of seaweed crackers. Tera hastily ripped the sachet and nibbled on one cracker. "He saved me. He was the first adult to treat me kindly."

Nagayoshi nodded understandingly. Then she said, "You said kids in this place came from broken homes, right? So how broken was your home?"

Tera stopped nibbling. She looked at the younger girl with saggy and half-wet eyes. "I don't usually tell my story to strangers, but what the hell…alright." She took a deep breath and munched half of the cracker before she started. "Well, my home wasn't really broken at first. My father was a kind man; he cared so much for me and my mother. But it was my mother…. Secretly, she had an affair with another man that I don't know. When I was five, my mom's boyfriend killed my dad and then _he_ became my step-father. But he's so scary. Unlike my real dad, he hated me. After that, I don't know why, but I was treated badly. Even my mom told me around like a slave.

"But on one winter, I tried to escape. In my desperation to get away from that hellhole, I threw burning coals to my step-father's face. No doubt, he was furious and he tried to kill me more. Then…my life changed. Hokko-tousama came to my rescue and killed that demon who tried to kill me. He left me in the snow for a moment and went to kill my mother too. I don't know if it was because of the coldness of the snow that made my senses numb or if I already had no emotions that I didn't protest when he killed them. Ever since that day, I was with him all the time."

"Hmm…he went off to kill your mother while she's still in the house? Huh…no wonder people considered him as a mass murderer." Nagayoshi commented. She went back to her bag and re-started to pack up her things. Once again, she had to stop.

"How about you? Do you have a broken home? Why are you following your so-called 'brother' everywhere he goes?" Tera asked.

Nagayoshi's mouth opened and closed slightly, trying to browse for the right formulation of words to answer her question without revealing too much. She stuttered, "Uh…I can't say it's a broken home. Akatsuki is my home now and the people inside are…unique, for the lack of a better word."

"How about your parents?" Tera asked again. With her back facing, Tera couldn't see Nagayoshi's deep scowl that complained about her excessive questioning. If she wasn't mistaken, Tera criticized her about her asking habits.

Sighing, Nagayoshi answered, "I don't know. Haven't seen them in a while."

"By 'a while', do you mean a year or two years ago or you never actually see them?" Tera asked again. By now, Nagayoshi was convinced that Tera was not only a hot-head but a hypocrite blunt-head too.

She gritted her teeth to contain her annoyance. "Okay, I admit I don't know them—at all! Happy? Kakuzu-niisan was the closest person to be a parent to me so far."

Unseen by the twelve-year-old, Tera smirked. She took another cracker and chomped it as she spoke, "Damn, you're still quite lucky, you know? You don't know if your parents are a couple of jerks or not. But I warn ya, it's not going to be easy with shitty parents, especially with those who want to kill you. I really wish I never knew my parents, well, except my real dad."

Nagayoshi scrunched her eyebrows. She felt something was a little amiss. The way Tera talked nudged her suspicion to almost alert. She talked about parents that way, as if she had no heart. She wondered… "What if you're on my place, not knowing your parents and all? Can you talk like that?" she asked straightforward to Tera who froze and looked at her with wide eyes.

Tera shifted her eyes down. Nagayoshi had the point. There was a difference. "Okay, maybe I wouldn't. But…like you understand what I've been through." Tera scoffed, eating the last half of the second cracker.

"You're right; I don't know what you've been through. But remember this: you're luckier than me. At least, you didn't have to feel how it's like to be hated by a whole village—twice."

That last one effectively shut Tera's mouth up. Her fingers fiddled with the edges of the plastic wrap of the crackers. It was a long five minutes; long enough for Nagayoshi to put most of her stuffs in along with Kakuzu's. Unbeknownst to Tera, the short-haired girl watched her silence as she stuffed her bag. She studied every single muscles of the face. She looked somewhat defeated; maybe because she was indeed not the unluckiest person on earth. Then why should she feel like that? Or was it pity? Because of what Nagayoshi said lastly? Before long, silence started to cause a prickly itch on the back of her neck. She had to break the ice somehow.

"You know, there's actually a reason why we we're here with an invitation in the first place." Nagayoshi said. She massaged her eyebrows as Tera glanced up to meet her face. She contemplated: should she, or should she not?

"A reason? Well…" Tera scoffed, "It doesn't take a scientist to find out what's going on in that organization of yours! I can figure it out already!"

"I know, but do you—"

"Is everything in?" Kakuzu's voice broke in as how he himself did by suddenly sliding the door open. Nagayoshi promptly stopped talking and Tera shyly slid out of the room and back to her own. As a respond to her brother's question, she hurriedly inserted the last few things and zipped the bag close.

"Yep! All's in! Sorry. I—I know I should've had it done earlier, but Tera came and talked to me." the girl rambled as she rushed to the wardrobe and was about to pull out the two futons. She froze just as her arms slipped to the two sides of the bundle of wool mattress, hearing Kakuzu spoke.

"You almost talked too much." the masked ninja said glumly. He knew with voice like that he was intimidating his sister. He didn't think to change. "Nobody but the rest of the Akatsuki and us can know about it. Hokko may have become a member now, but unless time says so, you can't tell him. Understand?" Kakuzu said very seriously that hearing his voice was almost equal to receiving Erai's infrasound attack. He saw the back of Nagayoshi's head bobbed up and down slightly and slowly. He unbuttoned his cloak, leaving only the front of his black undershirt exposed. He then pulled his mask down. "I'm not angry at you, Nagayoshi, so you can relax a little." he added, seeing that his sister had stopped moving ever since he told her. "I'm just warning you."

Nagayoshi took a deep breath. Just because she had pulled pranks on Kakuzu more than anyone had done, that didn't mean she was immune to the darker side's voice. He didn't use it often on her, but once he did, Nagayoshi knew he meant business and that she must not disobey it at all cost. She grabbed a hold on the futon and carried the first one out before taking the other one. Kakuzu unrolled the first one and sat on it with the blanket over his legs. "I'm sorry, Oniisan."

"Nah, don't sweat it. I told you I'm not angry." Kakuzu replied, taking the book he previously read before Hokko summoned him. As he opened the book on where he left it, he noticed the continuously grim face of his sister. He sighed and closed the book again. "What is it? I told you that I'm not angry. I don't even sound like one. But you keep looking like that. Tell me; what is it? You know you can talk to me about it."

Nagayoshi turned to her brother brusquely, waving both of her arms in front of her chest. "Nothing, really! It's just the thing I talked with Tera that makes me keep on thinking, that's all!"

Kakuzu just stared at her. No shrugging, no eyebrow-perking, only a couple of blinks. "I know that face everywhere, Nagayoshi. Just because that girl got a bendable spleen, that can't cause you to hide your tail between your legs, right? I know you, Imouto. You're not the type who gets scared just because a girl is much more hot-headed than you."

Nagayoshi bit her bottom lip, eyebrows furrowing into a deep frown, feeling bad for not being able to hide her emotions well enough from her brother. She believed her brother, but for some reason she couldn't stare at his eyes. She was startled when an extra weight was added to her head. It was Kakuzu's hand, ruffling her hair like he always does.

"I'm not going to be the one who'll kill you." he said before letting his hand go from her head and focused on the compiled papers in his other hand. This time, Nagayoshi got to look at him.

She smiled.

"Sweet dreams, Oniisan." she said, curling the blanket around her and lie down. She shifted to her side, where her back faced Kakuzu. Unfortunately, that position hindered her from seeing a small tug on the corner of Kakuzu's currently unmasked lips.

**|-oOo-|**

Kakuzu did not resist his eyeballs from rolling heavenwards. Although Kakuzu was far more patient than Sasori, but that didn't mean he couldn't get agitated. Nagayoshi rubbed his upper arm, nonverbally telling her brother to hold on while his new partner had a rather crowded farewell party.

Most kids in the safe haven were sobbing, sniffling, and crying. Even some of the teenagers and young adults, too, had their eyes and cheeks soaking wet. They all wanted to give Hokko a last hug before he was gone for god knows how long. Not only the inhabitants, but the cowboy hat-clad father figure couldn't stop the tears from rushing down his cheeks too. His cherished home which he created decades ago now had to let him go from his position. Tera had to be the one to give him the most asphyxiating hug—again.

"Great lord…" Kakuzu rolled his eyes again. "We don't have time for this. There are bounties waiting to be killed and Pein-sama waiting to see me and kick me on the ass. C'mon, Nagayoshi." The masked ninja opened the red door he and his companions used to enter the safe haven. Nagayoshi looked back to Kakuzu's new partner and to her brother. "Move!" Kakuzu hollered heatedly and Nagayoshi picked up her speed.

Noticing that his new companions were leaving him behind, Hokko made a quick group hug, wiped his tears and dashed off. "See y'all later, kiddos! I'm gonna miss you guys!" he waved at them as he went off. Younger kids ran after him, hoping to pull him back. They would have got him, if the twelve councilmen and women didn't stop them.

"WE LOVE YOU, TOUSAMA!" they all yelled. The yelling reached Hokko's ears and new tears replaced the old ones as he kept running.

"Omigod, my poor kids!" he sniffled.

Kakuzu sighed heavily. He had this strong urge to knock Hokko out and dragged him to the base. For the next few miles, Hokko still felt melancholic. He wouldn't stop telling stories about some of the kids in the safe haven. Sometimes he would cry again, other times he laughed. Nagayoshi just listened. A couple of stories interested her and so she laughed with the eye-patched ninja, being a sensitive girl she was. Kakuzu, however, was once again in a bad mood. Finally, after hearing so many incessant stories, he let out the steam.

"Would you just stop talking for a few minutes?" Kakuzu roared, automatically stopping just to send the message through the mouth and the eyes. Hokko, startled, dropped his Cuban cigar. "We got a full day journey and we won't get there if I have to constantly remind you, old man, to keep your mouth shut! We passed only a little civilization, so we can't hunt for bounties and that sucks! Now if you want to cooperate with me, remember this one thing: talk only when you _have to_! Do we have a deal?"

_"Just say yes…"_ Nagayoshi whispered to the half-terrified Hokko.

Following Nagayoshi's advice, Hokko nodded meekly.

"Good. Now let's get moving." Kakuzu grumbled, turning back to the designated course. To his delight, Hokko really took his words seriously. Inside, he was smirking. _Eh, he's not that bad._

**|-oOo-|**

The next evening, the three arrived at the front red Shinto gate. Hokko studied the gigantic boulder sitting before a cave and wondered on how to get in when Kakuzu mercilessly dragged him by the collar. Just like what happened to Nagayoshi one and a half year earlier, Hokko had to sacrifice a small droplet of blood for identification, since he had not yet possessed Ryouken's ring. He then witnessed the long, claustrophobic tunnel, stretching as far as his brain could imagine. While passing the hill of wide and short stairs, they encountered Sasori walking in his scorpion-like armor called Hiruko. The latter took a pause to study Kakuzu's new partner before proceeding to execute his mission. The short study, however, left an indefinable first impression on Hokko.

Unlike when Nagayoshi arrived for the first time, Zetsu didn't open the door. Maybe he was out on a mission. Nagayoshi then realized that something was not exactly like how she knew it. The base was vacant. Not even the least commanded member, Erai, was there. It seemed like everyone was away. She checked every door of the people she was closest to as Kakuzu said, "Hokko and I'll go to Pein-sama's office. You just stay here and…I don't know, find your buddies."

"Okay!"

"Your sister likes this place, huh?" asked Hokko. This one, Kakuzu didn't mind.

"Yeah. She found great friends here, despite that they are all older than her. The youngest was almost sixteen." Kakuzu answered.

Hokko then smirked, though Kakuzu didn't see it. Not until he spoke. "I can't believe that the person who got to steal Hashirama Senju's heart still lives and invited me to this unique organization." he said, not hiding his cunning smirk.

Kakuzu froze in his tracks; Hokko imitated him. Slowly and warily, he turned to his new partner. His eyes slanted thinly. "How do you know I'm the same person as the one stole his heart?" Kakuzu asked circumspectly.

Hokko chuckled good-naturedly, raising his arms slightly in an almost embracing manner. "Hey, I was at the same age as your sister by the time I heard it happened. Anyway, I was born and raised in Takigakure. Nobody wears a black mask and turban like you."

Kakuzu grunted. "Whatever; move on. Oh, and…this is not a turban."

Hokko chuckled again. "Alright, whatever you say…" He continued following Kakuzu's steps until they met the end of the second shorter tunnel/enclosed bridge. A blue-haired woman waited in front of the boss' door. While Kakuzu said nothing, Hokko muttered, "Hubba hubba…"

Kakuzu growled in a dog-like manner. He shot a brief glare at the shorter man behind him. "She's Pein-sama's partner. Not as plain as she looks, so you better watch out."

"Of course not." Hokko answered beamingly, adjusting his collar. "Only a woman so strong that could stand being around men."

"I thought you like kids."

"If you're accusin' me as a pedophile, no sirree, I am not! I'm still a ladies' man." Hokko said, ignoring Kakuzu's grunt of contempt. His spirit kept amplifying more and more until he couldn't keep a grin down.

As soon as the two men were close enough to the office, Konan's hand held the knob, ready to turn the door open. Kakuzu just gave the woman a plain small nod that was almost unnoticeable. She turned the knob, letting them in. "He's expecting you." she said.

Kakuzu had nothing to reply. Hokko held his hat, lift it up and said, "Ma'am." with a wide smile and put the hat back. Konan just stared at him blankly, blinking once or twice quickly. She closed the door before Hokko had the time to look back at her.

Despite that Konan specifically said that Pein was waiting for him, but Kakuzu immediately noticed that Pein didn't look like an expecting boss at all. He noticed the zoomed in two-dimensional image of Land of Rain and Amegakure. There were red dots along the country's border and more outside the village's periphery. Kakuzu noticed how glued the leader was to the map that he needed to clear his throat to grab his attention.

The leader blinked in startle and, keeping his professional air, looked up slowly. He straightened his sitting position, clearing his throat as well. "Kakuzu, I see you're back with our new member." he said; now back to his normal state. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, sir. Now I believe you have business with him." Kakuzu replied courteously. He observed the leader's eyes; he felt like he forgot that they had a fight before Kakuzu was sent to the safe haven. Now he grew suspicious. Nevertheless, he let the most important matter pass first.

"So you're Hokko, hm? You surely look younger than I expected." Pein said, slight warmth lingered as he spoke. "You sure remember that I sent Kakuzu to your living place with an invitation. I'm glad that you accept it. I might as well kill you on the spot if you refused." he added.

Hokko nearly gaped; his mouth didn't, but his eyes did. He looked to Kakuzu with wide eyes. The masked ninja just shrugged. The cowboy hat ninja encouraged himself to ask, "Why would you need to do that?"

"To make sure that any information regarding this organization's secrecy secure. We do plan on going public and conquer the world, but before that stage can be done, we must work undercover." Pein explained.

"Wait, did you say 'conquer the world'? Whoa! You ain't tellin' me anything about this!" he exclaimed to Kakuzu who redirected his eyes away from Hokko. The latter returned to Pein. He took a deep breath. "Alright. I'll just go with it, even though it's kinda hard. But if you seriously want to conquer the world, how're you gonna do it?"

"Good question." Pein replied. His face still emotionless. "There are three steps to reach our main goal. One: we obtain money as much as we could to support the organization and keep it running. That's your partner's best job. Two: we then are going to expand the organization by making separate groups under Akatsuki's flag. In order to gain people's trust, we give them economical price for any kinds of mission, much lower than those shinobi villages. And with another set of resources, we shall wage war which will solidify our reputation and sending the shinobi villages into bankruptcy, enabling us to monopolize the shinobi service business. With that, we then climb to the final step: world domination. The first step has had some hindrance, due to treason by one of our members. Currently, we only do the dirty work that the shinobi villages refuse to do. Of course, for now, the price is not so economical just yet." Pein fluently elucidated the goal of the organization he led. Hokko nodded every once in a while, indicating that he understood everything the leader had said.

Hokko then cupped his chin, mouth curved thoughtfully. "Hmm…not a bad idea, overall. But it's the war section that sort of disturbs me. There'll be victims—innocent victims—and I can imagine the amount of war orphans caused by the war. I can't let that happen, whatever the cost is!"

"I understand your feelings and the feelings of those children. I was a war orphan too." Pein replied, still not showing any emotions. None, but one. Kakuzu had been observing that for a while ever since he entered the leader's office. "If you round up your decision, I can provide you some help. I cannot guarantee the inexistence of the war orphans once that plan is launched, but I can guarantee that I will keep the war away from your safe haven and endow it with supplies. See here, I'm not trying to be a selfish ass who only thinks about his own personal goal. I'm here to help my friends too."

_Nice talk, leader. Maybe he should be the one inviting him in the first place, _Kakuzu commented inwardly, his eyes indicated that he was smirking. He drifted his gaze to his new partner who was staring at the young orange-haired leader in awe. Kakuzu closed his eyes briefly, smiling under his mask. _Well, he's an easy catch._

"Your words touched me, mister. For someone so young, you sure know how to collect people to gather around you." Hokko said, smiling wryly at the man sitting in front of him. "But know this; I'll only be loyal to you as long as you keep your words on your promise about providing help to my safe haven. My mind can change quite drastically, you know."

"You can have my word. I'm not a low-life person." Pein said, gaining Hokko's trust with every sentence he spoke. He opened the drawer on his right and took a tiny object from inside. He held it out, holding the small object with his thumb and index finger. Between those fingers was an ochre ring with an orange stone. On the middle of the stone was a kanji for 'three'. Hokko received it, holding it in his own fingers and studied its features. There had been scratches on the body of the ring, but not the orb. "Wear it on your left index finger. It will be your position during our indirect meeting."

"Gotcha." Hokko replied, immediately slipped the ring into his left index finger. Meanwhile, Pein returned his grey eyes to the map in front of him. He almost dismissed the two men.

Kakuzu knew that Pein was done with Hokko. It was his chance to talk. "What's up with the map? It's not every day you open a map with red dots circling around the village's perimeter. Was there something happened while I was gone?" Kakuzu asked, straight to his point of curiosity.

Pein blinked rapidly and his mouth opened slightly. A sign of getting reminded about something fatally important. "Thanks, Kakuzu. I almost forgot about this. And yes, there was indeed something. After so many years, the Salamander Army makes their move again, regardless that their commander, Hanzo, was dead." Pein enlightened the wondering masked ninja. His expression was grave.

"Uh, wait…" Hokko interrupted. "Did you mean Hanzo the Salamander? _Him?_ He was dead? How—when?"

"Geez, where were you when it happened? Well, the news of Hanzo's death was never distributed far away, though." Kakuzu said.

"It's normal if you don't know, Hokko. I did hide his death on purpose." Pein answered.

"Wait a minute! You killed Hanzo?" Hokko asked a little too loudly, pointing a shocked finger at the leader. He received no vocal replies, but Pein and Kakuzu's direct gaze convinced him enough. "Holy crap…!"

"Ignore him." Kakuzu said quickly, returning to the map and Pein. "So what happened exactly?"

"Thirteen hours after your departure, half dozen of the Army's spies breached into Amegakure territories. They split to various directions and their intention was unknown. Being the only one who sensed their arrival, I moved on my own and took them all out. Apparently, they were just living test subjects, assigned to test the strength of my barrier surrounding the village. I kept two alive for interrogation. One was done by me while the other one was done by Itachi. They're here to declare war with me, Kakuzu." Pein said.

"Did you send Zetsu to monitor their movement?" Kakuzu asked.

"I did, and this map and the dots on it was the result of their espionage. They move in large groups. A quarter of them headed here seven hours ago and I sent Kisame and Erai to the frontline."

"Just the two of them?"

"They're the only people who can defeat a group of people at one strike. I would have sent you if you didn't have to look for your new partner. You actually suit the job the most."

"How about the others? Sasori? Itachi?"

"I sent those two to gain information, either through our agents there or by kidnapping a ninja from the Army. My intention is to send you, your sister, and your new partner to go and confront the base camp of the Army. But since you've just returned, I'll give you time to rest and collect your energy. I suppose you won't mind going the day after tomorrow?"

Kakuzu nodded a little briskly. "No problem. I'll let my sister know."

"Good. You are dismissed. Kakuzu, show him his room." Pein commanded.

Kakuzu nodded and opened the door to exit. Hokko followed closely behind, forgot to close the door and as he passed Konan, he said with the same big grin, "My lady…" It didn't require a scientist to figure out that Konan's beauty had caught Hokko.

Konan visibly made an irritated scowl that only Pein got to see from his seat. The orange-haired man had been observing. "I think he likes you." he commented.

* * *

**Oh my god…I believe that my writer's block had finally disappeared! From this chapter onward, I have the things imagined already in my head. It only waits for my hands to start writing/typing. Looks like it's gonna be a fun arc, especially with a little _twist_ somewhere in the middle… (evil grin)**

**Behold, people! 'Tis the power of Hokko you shall witness soon!**

_Next: The voyage to infiltrate the Salamander Army's base camp during the beginning of winter! Kakuzu and Nagayoshi get to know their new companion._


	30. Civil War Foreword

**Chapter 29: Civil War Foreword**

The ground and the grass were slightly damp, but not wet, nonetheless. Kakuzu, Nagayoshi, and Hokko had exited the rainier territory of Amegakure's borders. Nagayoshi removed her jacket's hood, feeling completely sure that the airborne droplets of water won't soak her and her thick black hair. Hokko's head was completely dry, courtesy of wearing a maroon hat with wide edges. Kakuzu was the only one not protecting his head, despite with that white headgear. However, everybody knew that that headgear was not waterproof. Yet, being a strong guy he was, a little rain and a few knots of wind won't hurt him.

Ever since they walked under the poorly shaded woods, the world sounded like it was tired of talking and rambling to them. No rain meaning there was no clashes between the raindrops against the leaves and the ground. It felt much more relaxing for Kakuzu, making him sort of forget that he and his team was supposed to infiltrate an army's base camp. But silence didn't seem to like him. Now that the land was free of rain, there were birds chirping, frogs croaking, squirrels squeaking, and guitar strumming.

No wonder silence hated him; his companions just couldn't live without sound, even his sister. Well, she was pretty quiet when the both of them were alone. Nagayoshi hardly told stories and even if she did, it was always before they went to grab some shuteye. But that was Nagayoshi we were talking about; she knew Kakuzu too well to know when to talk. Hokko was a different little tale.

Kakuzu didn't bother asking the reason behind the guitar's existence. He thought Hokko liked to play music in front of the campfire. That wasn't so bad for him. He thought it would make a different atmosphere, a comfortable and warm one. As of right now, he didn't know what atmosphere he was feeling. He wondered why this one felt like the old times, the times where he easily lost his temper.

It turned out that Hokko started singing once they were out from the rain. Being the one who walked behind, he used the opportunity to stop for a moment and grabbed his guitar carried on his back. He dried it while walking and once the guitar was dried he began twanging the strings and showed off his husky singing voice. The lyrics weren't bad; in fact, since Kakuzu was such a literature enthusiast, he thought they were wonderful. They were so deep in meaning; straightforward, but very deep. It was about something the kinds of Kakuzu and Hokko understood the most. Youngsters like Nagayoshi might found it a little confusing. The melody wasn't too bad too. From all music, Kakuzu preferred folk or country. Traditional songs made him dizzy and pessimistic, to his puzzlement. But it was Hokko and the way he sings. Kakuzu had no idea whether those songs his partner was singing came from other songs or custom-made, but he just couldn't stand it anymore if every new song or verse started with a long, loud "OOOOHH…!"

"_How are you—fine? Is that a bottle of wine? I saw you drink the seventh bottle, won't that be a trouble? Your wife's waiting at the front door, but you're sleepin' with a whore? Talk to me, sire. Aren't you tired being a liar? What if she cheats on you? Will you wait for her too?" _Hokko sang. His speed in finding rhymes fascinated Kakuzu especially that they were walking at the moment. Still, it didn't change the fact that the beginning was despicable._ "See here, mister, life is sinis—"_

"I'm sorry for ruining your liar-ass-kicking song, but would you mind answer my question?" Kakuzu asked, finally. This wasn't the end of his patience yet, but if it was, Kakuzu would have been suspended again.

"Okay, shoot." Hokko stopped singing. His eyes were expecting some fan-like question. Sadly, nobody told him that he didn't just gain a fan.

"What the hell was that? Okay, I know it's a song. Your lyrics are quite good, the melody isn't so bad, it's just…why do you have to sing like _that_?" Kakuzu asked, half-heatedly. For a second there, he boosted Hokko's ego.

"What do you mean 'like that'? This is how I sing!" Hokko argued.

"In false notes?" Kakuzu retorted.

"It's not false! It's just how it is! I have a falsetto voice!" Hokko retorted again, defending himself and the pride of his voice.

"Oh yeah? Well, I have a false set o' teeth!" Kakuzu snapped back.

Hokko suddenly stopped arguing, question marks hovering around his head. To accentuate his uncertainty, he raised an eyebrow and his mouth skewed. "Really? No matter you wear a mask." His confusion augmented when Kakuzu grumbled and Nagayoshi burst out laughing. "What? What~?"

"By the way, how did you get the guitar?" Nagayoshi then asked after short seconds of laughing. She slowed down her pace to walk side-by-side with Hokko.

"Eh, I bought it yesterday. Pretty cheap in Ame. I actually have a guitar, but I forgot to bring it from the safe haven. Well, it's not like it's the most important object to me. Not like my weapons, at least." he answered.

"I see." Nagayoshi nodded in acknowledgement. "It's like I can't live without my baton! I guess we all have an object or two that we can't get separated from at any cost, huh? Right, 'Niisan?"

Hokko raised his eyebrow again. "What's yours?"

"Nothing." Kakuzu answered quickly.

"Ah, I know! It's your mask and—and that…that…turban! You just can't lose it because of your teeth, right? Eh, Kakuzu-san?" Hokko pointed enthusiastically, feeling that he just read Kakuzu's mind.

Nagayoshi laughed again, causing the guitar-playing shinobi to get confused again. "Hahaha! Hokko-san, you really bought that! I can't believe it!" Nagayoshi guffawed, slapping Hokko's arm powerfully without knowing that she might have slapped him a little bit too hard.

Hokko stopped, gaping at the smugly smirking Kakuzu with his eyes as wide as his mouth. "So all that was just a joke?" he exclaimed.

Kakuzu didn't stop himself from chuckling. "I guess your lack of hair also means the false set of brain cells." he remarked snidely, knowing that he had insulted his new partner. He didn't care, not when he had such a high level of seniority in the organization. "What's up, cowboy? You don't have joking companions in your place? I'm not surprised. You won't be telling sex jokes to children, right?" Kakuzu continued nagging on Hokko.

"Oi! We have an underage here!" Hokko retorted, pointing at the still laughing Nagayoshi.

"Don't worry about her. She knows enough about them. That's what happens when a kid copes among adult men for a few months." Kakuzu replied smugly, turning his back to Hokko.

Hokko, sick and irritated of being insulted, made a counterattack. "You're saying that I only joke to children. Aren't you joking to kids too, _old man_?"

The ears under the grayish-white headgear pricked, sensitive to the last two words emphasized by the bald ninja. Not only Kakuzu, but even Nagayoshi stopped laughing in a nanosecond. She straightened her back instantly, watching Kakuzu's next movement guardedly. When he turned in a slow yet menacing way, Nagayoshi knew she had to rush to his front so she could stop him from killing another partner. "You called me what?" he snarled. His sister came on time to push her hands forcefully against his chest.

"Oniisan! Temper!" she hissed as she pushed some of her weight to his front. Before she could lose in pushing competition with her brother, she sensed someone walking nearby. Fortunately, the two men felt it too. They stopped talking immediately and hid inside a tree hollow as quickly as possible, just right when three patrolling Amegakure ninjas wearing what it seemed to be snorkeling masks passed by.

The three ninjas didn't just 'pass by'; they stopped, looked around, using their heightened senses in order to find one or more intruders. Finding none, they left. The other three ninjas didn't pop out of their emergency hiding place in that instant the Amegakure ninjas leave. They waited; Hokko waited for Kakuzu and Kakuzu waited for Nagayoshi. She tried to spread her electromagnetic field detector circle as far as possible. She focused on the three fast-moving chakra signals, waiting for them to get out of her reach. She didn't want to risk of getting caught, not when they have a big fight ahead of them. Once those signals weakened, she looked up to her taller brother and nodded.

Kakuzu nodded back and urged his companions to step out of the tree hollow. He sighed inaudibly. He looked straight at the direction ahead of him; the direction where he was supposed to go to. He looked to his teammates, "Guys," he said solemnly, "save your jokes for later. We're almost there." He looked forward again, paying attention to the small linings of smoke, coming from several campfires.

Then they realize that they were going to fight against a small village of trained ninjas.

**|-oOo-|**

"How is it?" Kakuzu asked his new partner as soon as he returned from spying the enemy's base camp from afar. He and Nagayoshi had just finished making their own campfire and prepared some food. They tried not to make the fire too big so that the Salamander Army would not even realize they were there.

"It's not as much as I thought, but it's still a lot of ninjas, nonetheless." he answered, putting down his guitar against a tree. "The size of the camp is around 4-5 hectares. I saw four hundred and fifty two tents. One tent contains about four to six people." Hokko explained, sitting before the campfire and held his hands out to warm himself.

"So it's two thousand seven hundred and twelve people max, assuming there are indeed ten people inside each tent. Thirteen, maybe, in addition with the captain. You're right; that's a lot of ninjas." Kakuzu contemplated, crossing his arms.

"What should we do, Oniisan? We're practically out of number. I mean, it's two thousand against three! How are we supposed to turn the tables down?" asked Nagayoshi.

"Don't you mean two thousand against two? I'm not allowing you fight in this one, Nagayoshi." Kakuzu said, shifting his eyes from the bottom of the burning fire to the startled sister of his. He knew immediately what her reaction would be.

"There you go again, Oniisan! You always think that I'm just a weak kid who still needs babysitting! Guess what, I'm not, okay? I can take care of myself! Have you forgotten that you taught me how to fight against groups?" the black-haired girl roared at her brother who was unfazed. She hit the ground as she spoke, like an angry gorilla defending its territory or young.

"Your brother's right, kid." Hokko added, much to Nagayoshi's surprise. "I know that I'm new to the group, but I don't have to be a genius to guess how far your ability can go. Even the most genius thirteen-year-old can't possibly kill a twenty-people group."

With Hokko's support to Kakuzu's statement, Nagayoshi felt more offended. She gritted her teeth furiously, a guttural snarl in her throat. "I can't accept this! Itachi was thirteen when he destroyed the Uchiha clan!" Nagayoshi growled.

"That's Itachi! You are _not_ him!" Kakuzu bellowed, unfolding his arms and punching the ground with two perfectly curled fists. Usually, it worked in making her sister shrink, but not this time. Not with that amount of stubbornness. "Can't you see the fucking difference? Itachi isn't like any other kid! He has the Sharingan; he had learned countless amounts of jutsus from ninjutsu to kinjutsu; he was in the ANBU. You're not! When will you see that every person is different?"

At being bellowed like that, Nagayoshi frowned resentfully. However, there was still a sign of rebellion in her eyes.

"Let me ask you something." Kakuzu continued. "How many jutsus have you mastered?"

Nagayoshi bit her lower lip. Kakuzu, by seeing that, knew that his sister didn't stand a chance arguing with him. That mouth gesture showed her desperation. He waited for her answer which came later than he expected. "_Raihou_ and _Shippuujinrai Shunshin_." Nagayoshi answered in a low voice, disliking her position that kept on sliding down. "But that doesn't mean I can't do anything! Are you calling me stupid or something?"

"What are you going to do with those? Huh? Are you going to attack everyone in your way with _Raihou_ unstoppably? Is that your plan? This is a colony we're facing, Nagayoshi, not just a bunch of ANBU like in Kumo! You won't get outta there without a single scar! Even we can't leave a battlefield without injuries!" Kakuzu massaged his brows. Hokko just stared at the two in turns. This scene also made him understand his partner and the subordinate even more, being a new member he was. "You ask me you're stupid or not? Guess what? Yes, you are!" Kakuzu continued, getting hotter on the collar the more he speaks.

Hokko looked quickly to the boyish girl on his right. Her eyes widened yet her eyebrows were slanting, almost meeting on her nose bridge. He felt that he must talk to her after this.

"You're stupid 'cause the only thing you have in your mind is your thirst to get some action! Does it occur to your mind that you're putting your life at stake if you jump to the battlefield? You think you're some kind of god or something? You think you can defeat a massive colony with one long-ranged jutsu and running in high speed? I may have taught you all I know about fighting, about self-defense, but know this, little sister: not all of them work in a war!"

Nagayoshi hung her head low. She knew she was defeated, but she just couldn't accept the fact. She still wanted to get involved in this somehow. But her argumentative encyclopedia of reasons had betrayed her, unable to give her counterattacks towards her brother's harsh statements. In the end, only this came out. "You're such a selfish jerk!' she hissed aggrievedly. She stood up in a jolt and walked away as far as possible from that jerk she called brother.

One corner of Hokko's mouth twitched backward and he sighed. He rose to his feet and went after the girl. "I'll talk to her." he said to the slowly simmering down Kakuzu. The masked ninja said nothing. He supported one elbow on his knee while resting his head in his hand. Kakuzu knew he talked a little too far, but it was necessary for him. He just hoped that his sister won't hate him forever.

Nagayoshi was so incensed that when she walked away from the campfire, she didn't realize that the fire's warm light had failed to brighten her surroundings. She nearly tripped on a tree root but quickly regained her balance and continued stomping her way. She might have gone too far if a bigger hand didn't stop her by grabbing her arm. She whisked her arm fierily, trying to yank it away from whoever grabbed her arm. "Leave me alone!" she yelled, turning briskly to give the follower a rib-fracturing punch. The idea was put to a halt once she sensed a different aura of chakra. "Hokko-san…" she muttered, stepping aback meekly. "Are you trying to convince me to accept my brother's orders?"

Hokko opened his hat for a moment, wiping the sweat out of his bald head. His eyes glanced to the obscure horizon and sighed. "Well, frankly speaking, it's kinda like that. But, hey!" he exclaimed as Nagayoshi started to show signs of having enough. "Please, you gotta listen. Your brother's words are really harsh, but they're right. He's right, kid. I know how much that pissed you off, but maybe I can give you a little enlightenment. Perhaps you'll understand something."

"What is there to understand? I know that the ninja world is one shortcut to die. I know I'm putting my life on the line every time I fight. I ask again, what is there to understand?" Nagayoshi asked intensely.

"I believe you're getting it wrong, girl. That's not what your brother meant."

"Of course it is! You heard him! He thinks I'm stupid! He thinks that I don't know what the hell I'm doing in here! I know what we're going to do; we're going on a war, right? How hard is it to know that? He never believes that I can defend myself."

"We are going on a war, but you don't see what's behind it." Hokko replied collectedly, taking Nagayoshi's rants like a weed blown by a storm wind. "Nagayoshi-chan, what do you really want to do? I'm asking in terms of what you want to do now, not lifetime goal."

Nagayoshi's eyes wandered through the forestry darkness. Due to the darkness, Hokko couldn't really tell if she had slightly wet eyes. The tremble in her voice suggested that she nearly breaks down. He waited for her voice to speak again. "It's…" Nagayoshi stammered. She sighed. "It's hard to explain. I just…I just feel like I want to fight. I think—I'm not really sure, but it feels like it—I want to prove him that I'm not weak. I just want to get involved, get it? You know, he never let me join most of the conversations he had with our friends; always saying it's a guy's thing or some shit like that." Now Hokko could notice clearly her sobbing voice. He also noticed one other thing: Nagayoshi seemed to use profanities more frequently when she was extremely upset.

Hokko smiled wryly, though he knew she wouldn't be able to see it, and patted her shoulders. "Hey, kid, I don't think he considers you as weak. No, he's not. I never see you fight, but I'm very sure you're not weak. Only…you're so inexperienced. This is your first war, am I right? Then no wonder he tried not to let you get involved in this. Listen, your brother's right. Not all of the techniques he taught you work in war. In war, you're compelled to fight twenty to fifty people at one go. You can't make elaborate fights with one soldier. You have to kill one quickly and then kill another one just as quickly. It might be easier if we have our own army, but then let's face it. We're alone. It's obvious that you'll get killed in this fight."

Nagayoshi's shoulders drooped. She frowned sadly; her spirits shattered with Hokko's more gentle approach. "I guess it's hopeless, then. I'll always be this little girl who needs babysitting." she muttered pessimistically. She was startled to hear Hokko chuckled.

"Oh man, you still don't get it, do you? Well, I'm not surprised. I mean, your brother gets hot easily and started to yell at you like that. No wonder you miss a lot of things." Hokko chuckled again. Nagayoshi scrunched her forehead. "From the very beginning, what he's trying to say is 'No, you can't go. I don't want you to die.' He's protecting you, Nagayoshi-chan! It's just he's bad in saying it!" He chuckled again. He guessed that Nagayoshi looked quite dumb right now, knowing a truth like this. He put his hands on her shoulders again, squeezing them slightly. "Now if you want him to understand you, first, you have to understand him. He's the one making a living, anyway."

"Okay, I get it." Nagayoshi replied, wiping her eyes. "But I still don't want to be left behind. Say that to him."

"Don't worry. It'll all work out. He's the brains, he'll think of something." Hokko moved to her side, circling one arm around her shoulders. "Come on. Let's go back and discuss the strategy there. I'll make sure you get a part there." He walked with her, escorting her out of the dark forest to where they set up the campfire.

Kakuzu was still sitting in front of the campfire, immobile. He noticed his partner and sister came out of the darkness. Her slightly reddening eyes made him bit his lip; luckily, no one could tell he just did that since his mask was still on. And from the looks of it, Hokko seemed to successfully talk everything out with her. Kakuzu began to realize that, despite being more than a decade younger than him, Hokko had more experience with children. It was no wonder he made such a great father.

They both sat in front of him, across the fire. Kakuzu could see Nagayoshi's reluctance, judging from the way she coyly glanced at him. Hokko patted her back, nodding to the girl when she stared at him. Then Nagayoshi sighed softly. "Oniisan…" she said, almost subdual. "If you don't want to put me on the frontline, that's fine. Maybe you're right. Maybe I am such a blockhead."

"You're not." Kakuzu replied almost immediately. He received a disbelieved stare from his sister. "I was wrong to say that. I…didn't really mean it. Anyway…" Kakuzu sighed, "I've got a simple strategy where you can be in it too, Nagayoshi. I know that I've been leaving you behind lately."

Nagayoshi looked to Hokko who grinned at her optimistically. Nagayoshi returned her eyes to her brother again. Those obsidian orbs of hers extended wide. "Really?" Nagayoshi exclaimed, exhilarated.

Kakuzu nodded. He then grabbed a stick, starting to draw the scenarios and his plans for himself and his team. For the whole night, Kakuzu's team united as one and worked as one.

**|-oOo-|**

The Captain wore his amphibian mask, inherited from the first person who made it iconic, Hanzo the Salamander. He had pledged his allegiance to that lively and charismatic man for decades. Never, even for a split second, did he doubt his orders. So it was a terribly large loss to see his leader and hundreds of his comrades get eaten by some strange thing that looked a statue. Much to his relief, Hanzo's descendants stood up for the injustice. He unquestioningly followed them, getting promoted to the rank captain in the Army. He vowed to avenge the death of his leader ever since.

Today was a big day for the Captain. Today, he shall make a history. To redeem the lost land from the hands of Pein. He waited for this day for years. Finally, time arrived to this day and he swore he will not screw up all the hard work he and his superiors schemed for a long time. This was the time to set the score.

"Sergeant?" he called. His voice was loud; even amongst the rambling men and women, the Sergeant who stood a good five feet away from his tent heard him. A few seconds later, the Sergeant popped his head in and entered the tent.

"Yes, sir!" he replied. He was as animated as the Captain, eager to launch an attack to the rainy village of Amegakure.

"How's the weather today? Good? I want to make sure that we bring the sun to the rain." the Captain said as he walked with the Sergeant together out of his tent.

"Your lucky day, sir. It's sunny. I bet we can bring the sun to the rain."

"We must. The first wave should have made an entrance hole to the village's barrier and wreak havoc in there. Our assignment today is to give them a back-up. And if that Pein is still alive, we shall be the one to strangle his tiny neck in our hands!"

"You sure are excited, Captain."

"Of course. I'm waiting for that time to come."

The two men noticed another masked man running frantically towards them. The Sergeant looked to his side, eyes wondering. The higher rank made the same expression. The running man had a scroll in his hand, but the Captain and the Sergeant were too busy seeing him galloping to notice the flailing roll of parchment. The scroll-bringer shouted, "Captain! Captain!"

"Slow down, soldier. What is it?" asked the Captain. The scroll-bringer finally stopped a meter away from them, bending down to take a breather. He then straightened up his back, panting heavily.

"Sir, Battalion 1 had—" a javelin followed by a shriek cut short the announcement. The messenger then lied on the ground with the fallen javelin on the crook of his neck. The sky then darkened. There was, for a moment, an eclipse. An eclipse made of flying and falling arrows, spears, javelins, and kunais.

"Take cover!" the Captain yelled at the top of his lungs. Soldiers who had defensive jutsu made a protective shield around themselves and their friends. Those who were running and too slow didn't make it. The Sergeant quickly created an earth dome to shield himself and the Captain. They were the ones alive.

After a few seconds of suspenseful shower of arsenals, it just stopped in a blink of an eye. No clinks or clanks heard around the perimeter. Brave soldiers popped their heads out of their hiding place, checking if the condition was clear from barraging weapons. Some of them who checked on the unfortunate part of the Army swore irately to whoever caused this.

The Captain and the Sergeant looked to each other, cautious and suspicious. Whispering, the Captain commanded, "Go with two of your men, Sergeant. Find out who's behind all this. Kill them, whoever they are."

The Sergeant nodded and whistled to the nearest Salamander soldier. "Rado, Homura! Come with me!" He quickly dashed towards one border of the camp, followed by a man and a woman. Unbeknownst to the Sergeant, one flying kunai landed to the Captain's safety shelter. He just kept on running, trying to find the culprit and take the daylight out of them. Until…_BOOM!_

The three running ninjas turned around, startled by the earsplitting detonation. "Captain!" the woman soldier shouted frantically. She was about to run back when the Sergeant held her arm.

"Wait!" he said quickly. It was then he saw more flying kunais with paper bombs attached to them, soon exploded and killed more soldiers, coming from one place only. His eyes slanted into two thin lines. He tugged her arm slightly and led them towards that direction.

The Captain managed to survive from the initial explosion. The earth barrier the Sergeant made wasn't strong enough to sustain the shockwave—not from that closeness, at least. He saw more coming. The amount wasn't as much as the first barrage of flying projectiles, but it was what was attached to the tail he must be concerned about. He ran away as far as possible from those falling kunais and the following explosions. He tumbled on the ground when there was an explosion not far from him. As he tried to regain his footing, he saw two men coming at the base camp. They were not here to help him. Obviously.

* * *

**Okay! Cruelty-packed chapter ahead next! Hold your breath now! There's gonna be a lotta fun! Even I can't wait to post it! By the way, Kakuzu and Nagayoshi need to argue more often like that. I based Hokko's singing voice on Brandon Flowers, the vocalist of The Killers, my second favorite band. Only Hokko's voice is heavier than Flowers'. Oh, and notice the **_**300**_** reference.**

**Whee! It's almost chapter 30! I can't believe I've gone this far and Bird Cloth is, I think, tens of chapters way to go. Yeah…I'm afraid it's gonna reach 50 chapters or more. I even think it may reach 100. O_O**

_Next: The attack on Battalion 2 begins!_


	31. Three Against the World

**Chapter 30: Three Against the World**

Nagayoshi didn't really like the idea.

Although her dislike was only five percent, but she still find it hard to let go most of her stolen-weapons-for-sale collection. Nevertheless, since she got an important role in the plan, she couldn't argue. It was her who insisted to get involved in this, anyway.

Singlehandedly, she went to the highest area around the camp's border. Briskly putting the bag on the ground, she rummaged the insides and grabbed several scrolls out. She unrolled them, broke the seal and revealed a giant weapon launcher and its ammunitions of various sizes and shapes. This weapon she got during Kakuzu's suspension. It was a real drag when she fought the initial user even with the help of Kisame and Itachi. The three of them were not given any chance to go anywhere as the previous user kept firing at them mercilessly. Kisame managed to defeat him alone by swimming underground and gave the attacker a surprise attack.

It wasn't the ammunitions Nagayoshi concerned about, but the launcher itself. She knew the launcher would make a fine price once she got to sell it. It was a perfect weapon to attack enemies massively from a great distance. She was sure any ninja would have wanted this item. And when there was a large list of demands, she might as well open an auction and get the highest price.

Nagayoshi froze; the thin hairs on her arms and legs rose stiffly as she hauled an exceptionally large javelin into the launcher's mouth. She clutched her head with terror, ruffling her own hair as she screamed. "GAAH! Why am I thinking like him?" she shouted frenetically. In her mind, a sudden image of her using the same attribute as her brother flashed. It freaked her out, as she didn't want to be her brother or being remarked for being so much like him.

She took a deep breath, remembering her actual goal. She had to be quick. The troop could have start marching down the forest and launch their weapons and jutsus at Amegakure. She slid the last weapons and stood behind the launcher. With her might and the launcher's aiming cross, she set her target. She aimed at the center of the base camp, not necessarily the Captain's tent. Once she was settled, she wasted no time and triggered the launcher by pulling a rope. "Fire in the hole!" she shouted, though nobody would hear her.

She watched as the weapons flew across the air and falling like black rain to where she aimed. The weapons spread, falling not only on the center of the target but anything surrounding it too. She pulled the launcher back a little, refilled it with more weapons, aimed it on a new spot and triggered it again. It made a new rain, closely attached with the first barrage. She repeated the same process until she ran out of weapons. That was a cue for her to open the second and third scroll.

The second scroll only contained kunais and hand blades which she also stole from her opponents. Since she had fought many opponents and usually ninjas carried loads of kunais in their pouches, it was no surprise that her kunai collection surpassed the javelin ammunition. While the second scroll had kunais, the third had paper bombs. She took a deep breath, knowing that attaching a paper bomb to that many kunai will not be an easy job. Using _Shippuujinrai Shunshin_, she rapidly attached the bombs to the kunais with a thin string. She even made two bunshins to help her. As her clones did the attaching, the original Nagayoshi did the filling-in and the trigger-pulling. The kunais came to the base camp with the same way. Only once they landed, the bombs automatically ignited and exploded, sending shockwaves and sound waves off. Nagayoshi smiled, seeing the massive ground fireworks wreak havoc and eliminated unwanted invaders.

She turned to her two bunshins, who were panting exhaustedly. "Good job, ladies. You can go now." she said. It felt weird inside; she never really talked to herself. She sighed when they dissipated with a _poof_.

**|-oOo-|**

A clear awed whistle escaped Hokko's lips. He couldn't help but whooping for the massive destruction caused by Nagayoshi's collection of stolen weapons. Meanwhile, the kunoichi's brother just stared at the scene, waiting for the right time to strike. Even with that much chaos, he was positive that there was at least one hundred people, or more, alive. They were not normal people, they were ninjas. Surely they found some way to protect themselves. He also had calculated the possibility of Nagayoshi's whereabouts being discovered by enemies. He tried not to concern about that too much.

The explosions ceased. Kakuzu briskly opened his cloak, revealing his back and the masks sewn to it. Hokko jumped in surprised looking at the unexpected view. He knew that Kakuzu hid something inside his cloak, but he never guessed about this. Kakuzu turned to his partner slightly. He said, "You're a lucky one. I never showed my true ability to a partner in their first week of working."

"Uh…thanks." Hokko replied, not knowing what else to say. He then squeaked once Kakuzu's back began to wriggle. The masked ninja grunted and groaned loudly as the masks began to detach from the host body. Then, before the cowboy ninja, stood four black creatures. He gaped.

"No time for amazement, Hokko." Kakuzu said coldly to his partner, wearing his Akatsuki cloak again. "Let's do this."

Kakuzu ran forward, followed by his monstrous minions. As he ran, Hokko unhooked two whips from his belt. He caught up to Kakuzu, smirking smugly. "Well, you're not the only one who gets to show off your true ability, partner!"

The lightning mask hopped and landed a few feet ahead of the partners. It opened its mouth and sparks of electric current ignited from its mouth before it boomed into a powerful ray of highly destructive beam. The other three mask monsters spread out to different human-filled spots, each of them shooting detrimental jutsu of their respective elements.

Kakuzu and Hokko made a different approach. They would touch their opponents and kill them in front of their face. Apparently, their fighting style was nearly similar. Kakuzu choked his enemies with his tendrils, while Hokko with his whips. However, there was one difference. If, somehow, an enemy managed to grab a hold on his tendrils, Kakuzu would unleash more so it would stab straight to the enemy's vital points. Hokko's technique to outsmart that scenario was different.

A man got to get Hokko's whip tangled around his wrist and pulled it and Hokko towards him. Not wanting to lose his whip, Hokko hid a devious grin; he had a plan. He muttered, _"Karyuubi No Jutsu!"_

The whip that was tangled on the Army soldier's wrist burst into flames. The fire touched the ninja's wrist and started to burn the arm guard and, soon, the skin. Before he got to get away, Hokko pulled the man and tied the whip around his body. The Salamander Army soldier tried to squirm free, but Hokko quickly tightened his whip. With his other hand, he did a set of one-hand seal. _"Kasou No Nishikihebi!"_ he shouted. From that same flaming whip, the fire grew wilder and it took the form of a full grown python. The fire snake hissed and engulfed its prey in its hell fire. While his whip was burning someone alive into ashes, the wielder used the other one, also ignited in flames, to knock off other enemy ninjas approaching. In turns, he cremated one ninja alive to another.

Kakuzu needed no jutsu whatsoever to finish off his opponents. Having myriads of experience in human anatomy, Kakuzu only needed an opening and a large amount of force on his blocky tanned fist. He often attacked the diaphragm, crushing the ribs that they punctured the lungs or heart. With the help of his tendrils, Kakuzu could kill multiple enemies at once.

A man slightly bigger than Kakuzu had a pair of bulky arms circled around the masked ninja's body in order to either crush him or give his comrades a chance to kill this man. Kakuzu squirmed to get free but the man's unloving embrace was powerful. Then a kunoichi and another male ninja held their short samurai sword and aimed at Kakuzu's sides. Kakuzu racked his brain in milliseconds, trying to find a way to get out of death—especially that he only has one heart in him right at the moment. Kakuzu grappled the big man's arms and then the tendrils from his arms shot out to curl tightly around the ninja's neck and torso. Kakuzu flung the man, his arms off from his body, and held him in the air. Mercilessly, he broke the bigger man's spine and threw him ruthlessly to the kunoichi who was then crushed under the weight. The other male ninja struck at him with his blade towards Kakuzu. Nonchalantly, Kakuzu held an arm up, hardened it into stone which caused the sword's shattering demise. With the other arm, Kakuzu stabbed the man from front to back with his fingers alone.

He dropped the body down to the ground and flicked the blood covering his whole arm. At the corner of his eyes, he noticed a streak of light striking towards him. Before he got hurt by whatever that light was, Kakuzu hopped back. He managed to miss the air chakra-enhanced custom kunai, but a small bit of his Akatsuki cloak's collar did not. The kunoichi who used the small blade was agile; she wouldn't stop slicing as long as the tip of her blade hasn't touch Kakuzu's skin. With the minimal chance of counterattacking, Kakuzu had no other choice but continuously hopping backwards. Quickly, he checked what or who might stand behind him and upon seeing a guitar, he felt slightly saved.

The partners' backs bumped against each other. Hokko, while intense and focused on his opponents, turned his head around in a start, only to found his partner in a same situation as he. He cackled half-heartedly, "Well, I guess we're both cornered, partner!" he said quickly before whisking his whips and sending fire crescents at his enemies.

"I have no time for being cornered!" Kakuzu retorted snappily. The war's atmosphere made him emotional, even when there was no need to. Thinking quickly to save himself and his partner from being attacked by the agile kunoichi with air chakra-enhanced kunai, Kakuzu grabbed the closest thing that could be lethal depending on usage. Ripping off the straps, Kakuzu shouted to his hat-wearing partner, "Hokko, borrow!"

"Borrow what?" Hokko asked.

Held by the long handle, the guitar was swerved violently at the kunoichi's kunai, just right when she was swerving the blade to the opposite direction of the guitar. The guitar knocked her hand hard and the blade got accidentally dropped from the kunoichi's hand. Still with the guitar, Kakuzu smashed the body of the musical instrument at the kunoichi's head, fracturing the skull at the same time as the guitar broke into pieces.

"My guitar!" Hokko howled. "What the hell did you do to my guitar?"

"Just shut up and fight!" Kakuzu roared, sending several rock-hard fists to some ninjas' vital points.

**|-oOo-|**

Nagayoshi's heart pounded with ecstasy yearning and howling and begging to be released. She wanted to be in that fight too, but seeing at the flaring flames in several places, the shrill roars of the masked monsters and the scream of agony from people who were killed sort of pushed her back. She had heard about wars and all its horrifying quality. This was a small war she was watching and it shook her hard already. She couldn't imagine how the world was during the Great Ninja World War eras. She couldn't imagine what kind of world her brother was raised in.

There was a mighty blast exploded from afar, exactly at the fire mask monster's spot. Nagayoshi gulped; she had seen those four mask monsters out before, though it was only for show because she pleaded Kakuzu to show them. Since they were residing in a small village back then, Kakuzu couldn't unleash the full capability of those black creatures. She knew they were dangerously malignant, but she never imagined that the disastrous meter could be this high.

As she continued to watch while sitting on her weapon launcher, she turned on her detecting ability to its full power. She was already warned by her brother to stay alert at all times. Now, after seeing that cinder-scented vista, Nagayoshi understood why. She massaged her eyebrows. _Maybe Oniisan was right, _she thought, _I shouldn't have argued like that…_

And the alertness proved to be handy: around fifteen minutes after she executed her bomb-attached kunais to the air and down, she felt three chakra signals moving fast towards her. It took only seconds for the chakra signals to generate sounds of rapidly running feet and a flying piece of arm-sized metal. Nagayoshi jumped to the air and adhered her feet on the nearest tree trunk. The weapon launcher was suddenly sliced unevenly by a large shuriken. Upon seeing the damaging of one of her goods, she moaned, "God damn it!"

"There it is!" a female voice shouted. Nagayoshi's eyes snapped to focus and evaded another shuriken attack. She somersaulted in the air, taking her extendable baton from her weapon pouch, landed and immediately swerved the long alloy rod.

A male Salamander Army ninja ducked from her attack. As he ducked, Nagayoshi thrust her knee at his face. He quickly guarded his face with both of his hands. Nagayoshi's kick, as we know it, was quite powerful for someone her age; the male ninja tumbled on the ground upon receiving that knee attack. It was not until he stood up with the help of the Sergeant that he realized who he was fighting against. "A kid?" he asked in disbelief.

Nagayoshi simply gave them a smug smirk before bracing her baton and coating it with her electrical chakra. During the near-end of Kakuzu's suspension, Nagayoshi finally had perfected the chakra coating. Now the tip was completely sharp, like a knife's. She had to thank Itachi for helping her finish the task.

Not wasting another second, Nagayoshi attacked the three ninjas with a bellow. The kunoichi confronted her, clashing her oversized shuriken against Nagayoshi's baton. Since Nagayoshi's baton was coated in lightning chakra, it was easier for her weapon to incapacitate the other. With a quick slice, the shuriken was divided into two. Nagayoshi changed the holding position of her baton from normal gripping into spear-like gripping and without delay pitched the alloy rod. The speed of the throw and the distraction caused by the shattering shuriken made the kunoichi late in dodging the thrown baton. That inattentiveness brought her to a chest-stabbing demise.

"Homura!" cried the first male ninja. The death of his teammate hit him like debris falling down to him from the highest tower in the world. Under his amphibian mask, the male ninja gritted his teeth in anger. He glared at Nagayoshi who was retrieving her baton from her victim's chest. He rapidly formed hand seals and stamped his hands to the ground. _"Doshimekorosu No Jutsu!"_

The ground vibrated insanely. Nagayoshi, knowing that that ninja used an earth-based jutsu, watched the soil beneath her feet. For a fraction of a second, she spotted something out of the ground and, in desperate reflex, tilted her head to the side. A hand made entirely out of soil thrust out, almost grappling her head. Nagayoshi looked to the gigantic hand passing dangerously beside her face. A petrified sweat rolled on her temple.

The male ninja clicked his tongue in disappointment; he failed to grab Nagayoshi's head and crush it. He didn't stop and that caused for another small earthquake. Nagayoshi knew what this meant and so she hopped backwards, right on time as another earth hand struck out of the ground. She unstoppably hopped backwards and the hands kept trying to grab her. She managed to destroy those that nearly catch her with her baton. However, all patience soon began to diminish.

Hopping further than before and holding her baton in her armpit, she formed a set of well-memorized hand seals. One of her palm glowed and she pointed it towards the upcoming soil hand. _"Raihou!"_ The signature lightning jutsu shot violently out of her palm, blinding the two male Salamander Army ninjas. Once the jutsu's blinding light ceased, Nagayoshi quickly studied her opponent's footing. The other male was still alive due to hiding behind a tree right on time. But the other one was gone.

There was a loud crack behind her and before she could move, the presumably fried ninja was still alive. He used the chance when Nagayoshi couldn't see what was in front of her to dig deep in the underground and caught her by surprise. He held one of her arms to her back, forcing her to kneel with a pained cry. With her free hand, Nagayoshi tried to remove the catcher's hand but she couldn't because the male's other hand have caught it. Unfortunately, the palm of his hand touched Nagayoshi's skin and to make it worse, he wore no gloves. All Nagayoshi needed to do was to grin.

The male ninja screamed in great pain as electrical current vehemently forced his system to shut down permanently. Within seconds, Nagayoshi was free again. Now the only one left was the Sergeant.

"Impressive for a kid." said the second-in-command of the Army. Nagayoshi stared at him coldly as she rubbed her wrist that was previously caught by the electrocuted ninja. "But your little tricks won't work on me. I've seen enough to know."

"No problem. I can always find a new trick." Nagayoshi replied smugly.

"Hmph, arrogant child." the Sergeant unsheathed a sai. He dashed towards the androgynous girl, bracing his sai to slice her. Their weapons clashed with a loud clang. The two shinobis test their raw physical strength; whoever got to push off either one of them was the winner.

It turned out they were even. Both of them gave a quick burst of strength and they had to hop back for a moment. The Sergeant formed a complicated line of hand seals that Nagayoshi hardly ever see before. It ended on the tiger seal and he exclaimed, "_Shokuton: Shinyousei No Shita!"_

Nagayoshi was just about to make another offensive move when she felt that she couldn't move her arm; as if something was stopping her. Indeed, there was something. From the topmost of the trees, the vines slithered down and caught her elbow. She tried to violently snap the vines off by pulling, but apparently the vines were much stronger. She then switched her baton to her other hand, but before she could catch her baton, the other one was caught too. And the Sergeant did have learned enough about Nagayoshi's tricks. None of the vines touched her skin, probably to prevent electrocution. The androgynous kunoichi gritted her teeth.

The Sergeant flipped his sai like he would with a circus' throwing knife. He looked to his target briefly. "I still don't get what's a kid like you doing in the middle of a battlefield. You're too young for his, kid. Say goodbye to your parents, now."

"I wish I have." Nagayoshi retorted, somewhat sarcastic to her feeling. Truth was Nagayoshi didn't really know if she wished to see her parents. She was already quite proud with what she has.

"That makes my life easier." said the Sergeant coldly. Seeing that Nagayoshi had no last words, he tossed his sai at her and precisely at her chest where her heart and lungs lied.

Nagayoshi closed her eyes, expecting to feel a quick surge of pain and then a view of two gates heading to both hell and heaven. She could hear the air vibration as the blade with prongs zapped across the air towards her. Any second now…it should have pierced her chest.

_CLANG!_

There was a sudden doubt in Nagayoshi. Does a blade supposed to make a clanging sound when stabbing a person's flesh. Feeling no pain anywhere on her chest, she looked forward only for her view to be blocked by a massive object wrapped wholly in white cloth resembling bandages. She looked slightly to the side and her mouth produced a growing smile. To her delight, a friend has come to her rescue.

"Who are you?" the Sergeant growled.

"Your friendly blue swordsman, Kisame Hoshigaki." Kisame introduced himself, although the Sergeant didn't really want him to. "Remember it and bring that name to your grave." Kisame lifted his sword up and pointed it at the Sergeant.

"Dead people don't need names." the Army's second-in-command retorted coldly, uninterested with Kisame's ramblings.

"That's why I didn't ask yours." Kisame grinned deviously. In a blink of an eye, Kisame appeared not far from the Sergeant and brutally slammed Samehada to the ground. The brute force caused the soil to break and create several crates. The amphibian masked ninja didn't expect Kisame to come rocketing towards him with that speed, especially with that large thing in his hands. Yet, his eyes had no intention in pulling tricks at him. Reflexively, he thrust his sai only to tumble abrasively on the ground due to the impact caused by Kisame's brute power and Samehada's weight.

He regained his footing soon afterwards, using the chance where Kisame ripped off the vines entangling Nagayoshi's arms to create another set of hand seals. He stamped his hand to the ground, shouting, _"Shokuton: Bakuhatsu Houshi No Jutsu!"_

Right at where the summoning seal spread out, a giant green, yellow and purple plant that looked like a sack emerged. The Sergeant put on a release seal with his hands and with that formed, the plant sprouted dozens of flying puff balls to the air from its opening. Each puff was about the same size as Kisame's head, some were bigger. Kisame gripped Samehada's hilt tighter, knowing that these puffs weren't just some pretty things. Moreover, Kisame noticed that the Sergeant moved away further from him and Nagayoshi. Slowly and cautiously, he too scooted backwards. Nagayoshi followed his silent command.

While Kisame set his eyes on the flying puff balls, Nagayoshi watched what the Sergeant might do after this. She saw him secretly pulling an acupuncture needle from the sole of his footwear. His arm reared back and in a dash, the needle was zooming towards the nearest puff ball. The tip of the needle had just poked the seemingly fluffy sphere, not yet puncturing it, but its effect was already hazardous. The first puff ball detonated and it invited its friends to do the same. Blinding ray of light attacked the three ninjas' eyes. Nagayoshi instinctively crossed her arms in front of her eyes, shielding not only from the light but hopefully from the explosion too.

The Sergeant's eyes gleamed with expectation of seeing his two opponents lying on the ground, singed to the core. He almost let himself cackle triumphantly when the explosion's booming sound waves ceased and replaced by a sound of whirling wind and rushing water. His mind gambled on the possibilities. He hoped that most of the numbers fell on the blue-skinned ninja and androgynous kunoichi's demise. However, the god of gambling was not on his side today.

Secured and unhurt, standing inside a swirling vortex of water was Kisame and Nagayoshi. At the last second before the rapid transfer of fire and shockwaves slammed them, Kisame formed a quick hand seal and unleashed this defensive water technique jutsu. He could just use the normal _Suijinheki_, but the jutsu's lack of movement might not stand a chance against the multiple shockwaves.

Not needing the jutsu's protection anymore, Kisame dispelled it, dispersing the towering whirlpool into a puddle around him and his younger friend. His hands then moved rapidly in forming a new set of seals. _"Suiton: Suikodan No Jutsu!"_ From the same puddle, a giant water shark splashed out and gushed at the Sergeant. It nearly washed out the spore-producer plant and soaked the Sergeant slightly on the lower part of his body.

The second-in-command of the Salamander Army chuckled. "Have you forgotten that plants need water to live? Your pathetic jutsu doesn't work on my sporangium." he said, mocking the intelligence of the blue swordsman.

Kisame raised one eyebrow as he smirked confidently. "Who said I'm trying to kill your pretty little fungus over there?" Kisame then stepped back, letting Nagayoshi to step affront and stabbed her chakra-coated baton on the ground, through the trail of water. The electric current crawled expeditiously towards the plant. It only took seconds until the current touched the flora and fried it in less than a minute.

Nagayoshi stood up, smiling in satisfaction. It was a cue for Kisame to form another set of hand seals. "His job," Nagayoshi added, "is to kill you. You gonna wanna look out. Water can be very painful if used correctly."

Unbeknownst to the Sergeant, a thin whirling jet of water rocketed behind his back and pierced him straight out through the chest. As if one super lethal jet of water wasn't enough, three more streams were added, coming from three different directions. Death was inevitable.

Kisame chuckled freely. "That was almost too easy! Though the exploding puff balls were sort of a problem." His short-distance reminiscence was cut abruptly by a flying bear hug from the girl he rescued. The hug was too sudden for him that he lost a little of his balance, stepping backwards involuntarily in the process while sustaining Nagayoshi's fairly light weight. In one of his ears, he heard her laughing.

"I can't believe what a great team we make! We should work together more often!" Nagayoshi said cheeringly. "That was a pretty nice entrance you did back there, by the way." she added.

Putting the girl down and chuckling, Kisame replied, "A true hero always comes one second before it's too late."

Nagayoshi laughed at his statement. After the laughing session ended, she asked, "Did you come alone? I heard you're with Erai. Actually, what's going on, really?"

"Well, before you and your brother came back, the first wave of Salamander Army battalion had already attacked. Since Erai and I are the members with most destructive attacks, we were assigned by Pein-sama to stop the first wave. I'm surprised, though."

Nagayoshi blinked quickly in confusion.

"There're not many people in this battalion. The first wave is probably twice as large as this one. Probably it's to cause destruction in Amegakure as massive as possible. Erai and I needed two days to finish them off." Kisame continued. "And once we're done there, Pein-sama sent us here to aid you guys."

Nagayoshi rubbed the back of her head. "I think it's only me who needs a back-up. I don't think Oniisan and Hokko-san do."

"Oh, so it's Hokko, huh? Kakuzu's new partner?"

"Yeah."

"What's he like?"

"You'll see. You might have to wait a little longer though." Nagayoshi ended her sentence by looking towards the larger battlefield. She noticed the quick burst of massive compressed air somewhere on the north side of the camp. Little did she know, Kisame was observing her and the changes in her facial muscles.

"What do you say if we catch up with them? From the looks of it, they almost kick everybody's living daylight out." Kisame bade his little friend.

"Oniisan told me to stay away. He said the fight's too big for a kid like me." Nagayoshi answered. Deep inside, she really wanted to accept Kisame's bidding.

Kisame cupped his chin. "Well, yeah, he has the point. But to hell with it! I'm pretty sure they're almost done with it. Fine, if you're too afraid to go, I'll go alone." Kisame took off immediately, leaving Nagayoshi startled with the sudden departure.

Nagayoshi wondered what to do: follow Kisame's urging or Kakuzu's orders. She observed the battlefield once again; the explosions and roars did starting to become less frequent. Rushing off, she hollered, "Kisame! Wait for me!"

**|-oOo-|**

Breathing began to become a hard job for Kakuzu after tens and tens of minutes fighting against nonstop barrage of armed humans. Yet, being a warrior for so long, he would never let desperation eat him like a rice cake. Despite the heavy breathing, he still had enough power to crush people's bones. However, at the same time, he started to fall more frequently. He never owed his life to one person this much before.

"You okay there, partner? You look exhausted." Hokko asked, obviously concerned of his senior's well-being.

"I'm fine." Kakuzu answered gruffly. He failed to hide the amount of breath he blew when he spoke the 'f' in 'fine'.

"I'm still impressed that your original heart can stand this long. You must be one healthy gramps." Hokko added, not bothering to hide the fact that he knew Kakuzu was bluffing.

"How about yourself? You're a gramps too." Kakuzu answered bitterly, giving an elbow hit on a ninja's face.

"Hey, I may be seventy-one, but I have the looks of a handsome thirty and the heart of a healthy fifteen. I'm biologically immortal." Hokko boasted slightly, proud of what he got.

"There's no such thing as immortality!" Kakuzu retorted. Three ninjas lunged at him, overpowering him and knocking him back. They soon went flying as Hokko's whips bound them on the neck and hurled them away.

"Of course. I'm just sayin'."

Kakuzu grimaced. He hated feeling weak and he hated when people call him old just because he was chronologically eighty-five years old. He produced a high-pitched whistle out of the blue. He opened his cloak, exposing his back to the air again. Somewhere from his right, one of the mask monsters with green lines galloped towards him and swiftly entered into Kakuzu's body. Under his mask, he smiled to the additional supply of blood rushing all over his blood circuitry. He felt alive all over again.

Hokko whistled in awe. "So that's what they're for."

The two aged men continued fighting for the next fifteen minutes when they heard teeth-rattling explosion somewhere in the woods. Looking at the source, Kakuzu shivered slightly, his eyes dilated in horror. That was the place where the javelins, arrows, and bomb-attached kunais came from. In other words, that was where his sister was. In dilemma of whether to rush to aid his sister or focus on his goal right now, he put down his fists. If it wasn't because of Hokko reminding him, he would have got flattened under the next barrage of humans.

"We have to get to Nagayoshi!" Kakuzu shouted to his partner.

"We can't! We still have at least a hundred more to finish!" Hokko shouted back.

"What if that explosion got her?" Kakuzu retorted, almost furiously and frantically.

Hokko didn't answer but gritted his teeth resentfully. "Ah, shit! Fine, let's kick some ass and make a goddamn way out of here!"

"I thought so!" Kakuzu replied, forming a stream of complicated hand seals._ "Doton: Jigoku No Deifuro!"_ Kakuzu quickly knelt down and touched the earth. He spread his earth chakra under the ground to an extent distance. Once he stopped spreading chakra, the energy flow automatically transformed the once harmless earth into boiling hot, skin-melting mud puddle. It trapped half of the remaining army and soon they began to scream in agony of excessive heat. However, the Army's other remaining soldiers still outnumbered Kakuzu and Hokko that the two men were forced to move backwards inch by inch. And when they moved back, one moved forward.

The same iconic black cloak with red clouds on it was the only thing that determined his relation with Kakuzu and Hokko's side. Kakuzu could let himself relax a little, while Hokko was worried that the short male might not stand a chance against that mass. He was about to call him, but Kakuzu stopped him, shaking his head to accentuate that there was no need to help Erai.

"He may be small, but he's absolutely one of the top strongest five in the organization." Kakuzu explained. "Oh, and…" he added, "never call him 'kid'. Just like I don't like being called old, he doesn't like to be called young because, really, he isn't that young."

Erai stamped his hands together and immediately formed hand seals. He looked over his shoulder to Kakuzu, signaling not to get near him. Seeing Kakuzu's nodding response, the mini man heaved in a lot of air to his lungs. He collected as many chakras as he could and when he thought it was enough, he blasted them out in a form of ear-tearing typhoon of sound. The wind from his collected breath created the man-made typhoon that sent the Salamander Army flying as high as twenty feet in the air. As for the sound, it formed itself into countless invisible forces that could chop human flesh as easy as a sword slicing through a tofu. If the soldiers didn't die of incapacitation, they would probably die of falling.

Kakuzu, who had known Erai ever since when the little guy was still a boy, still couldn't hide his amazement of seeing Erai's powers. He may never consider himself as Erai's mentor, father figure, or anything close, but he just couldn't help feeling proud. Sure he couldn't; he saw this baby-faced man grow from weepy little boy into one of the strongest Akatsuki member—top five, even. He gave the dwarf ninja a brief thumb-up when he turned to the two older men, grinning.

"God…for someone so small, he sure has some big voice." Hokko commented, completely dumbfounded by what he saw.

"Well, be thankful that he won't use it on you." Kakuzu added.

From afar, sounding almost like an echo, was a call. A call that was far too familiar for Kakuzu to ignore. "Oniisan!"

The masked ninja turned his head briskly towards the source of the voice. Again, his eyes dilated but the burden on his heart was elevated completely. Nagayoshi was still alive…and Kisame was with her. Kakuzu let himself chuckle slightly. He should have known; Erai was working with Kisame this whole time.

Nagayoshi waved her arms at her brother and his partner. When he noticed a shorter figure in front of them somewhere, she added more energy to the waving. "Erai!"

Erai smiled widely and waved back. Hokko looked at the dwarf and then to his partner. His eyes demanded for answers. Kakuzu, knowing that the explanation might take time, shook his head in refusal.

"We won, didn't we? I saw those people flying; they shouldn't be alive when they fall, right?" Nagayoshi inquired spiritedly. Once she was close enough to the three of them, she jumped to hug Erai. The dwarf was too surprised of her sudden ecstatic emotion display that he didn't move even though he knew he won't be able to sustain Nagayoshi's heavier weight; especially that Nagayoshi was now taller than him. So the two fell on the ground; the male was at daze.

"Even if some of them do, they won't have the guts to come at us without back-up. They're gonna run back to their superior and tell them that we won't be defeated that easily." Kakuzu answered, watching with amusement as Erai, with his inability to speak and extreme shyness, tried to get away from Nagayoshi's spine-crushing hug.

From the meddling little people, Kisame noticed a face he never saw before standing beside Kakuzu. He said, "So this is Kakuzu's new partner? How do you do—Kisame Hoshigaki." he introduced himself, offering a hand to shake.

"Hokko. I just came here a couple o' days ago. I'm lookin' forward to work with you guys." Hokko replied, shaking Kisame's blue hand.

"Well, then, we better sit down! We got a lot to tell ya!" Kisame said lightheartedly, grinning his iconic big grin.

**|-oOo-|**

"I see…" Kakuzu muttered, nodding his head. "So the first wave of battalion wanted to infiltrate Amegakure village, ravaged the whole thing, look for Leader, and then kill him. Obviously, they're trying to reclaim Hanzo's old throne. Have you received any message from anybody? Zetsu or Itachi, maybe?" he asked.

Kisame shook his head. "Nope, nothin'. But I did get some information on my own. The soldier I tortured told me that they're moving under the orders of the 'Three Commanders'." Kisame explained, using his two fingers to create quotation marks beside his head at the end of his speech. "The 'Three Commanders' actually are, wait for it, Hanzo's sons and daughter. Yep, I'm pretty sure it was the truth. Let's see if any of our spies confirm it."

"Hmm, we're in a serious situation. I heard Hanzo was pretty strict in teaching his children. They probably are like their father, very distrusting and thirsty of land and domination." Kakuzu said.

"Domination? That doesn't sound too far from our leader, now does it?" Hokko asked.

"Well, he has a different mind. I don't really care, as long as I get paid."

"Oh, by the way, you owe me a new guitar."

There was a distinct twitch on Kakuzu's eye. "I was cornered, okay? I told you borrowed it!"

"Borrowed it? You goddamn ruined it!" Hokko defended his guitar's rights.

"What else can I use? What—you want me to swing you around like a baseball bat to knock away the enemies? Is that what you want? _Huh?_" Kakuzu retorted acidly.

"You just don't like hearing me sing, right? I still remember you yapping at me when I was making my song about a man cheating on his wife. Oh, I get it! You cheated on your wife, now didn't you?"

"I didn't cheat on my wife! You don't even know if I was married decades before joining Akatsuki!"

"It's because I don't know that I can make an assumption that you did cheat on your wife!"

While the two older men snapped and snarled at each other, Kisame, Erai and Nagayoshi stared at them speechlessly. As for Nagayoshi, she scooted behind Kisame and buried her face on his back, moaning in exasperation. Erai patted her back while the blue ninja patted her hand that was resting on his shoulder. Those two who could speak spoke in perfect synchronization, "Old men…"

* * *

**Wow…so far the most epic chapter ever made; it even beats the 'Special Achievement Chapter' that consisted of 20 MS Word pages. Why? Because I never put so much battle scene in a chapter before—ever! Whew…! I should celebrate for myself! Open the champagne!**

**I really love the last-minute-hero sequence of Kisame! X3 I think I cheated because apparently Kisame is my number one favorite character. Well, at least Erai got to finish off the rest of the Army. I never knew this dwarf OC is so well-liked. I also love the "What hell did you do to my guitar?" moment. Hokko is surely gonna be my favorite male OC, besides Erai.**

**And below is the translation of the jutsus (not including the ones that are featured in the original series) used in this chapter. This also the first time I use more than three custom-made jutsus in one chapter. I just made history!**

**_"Karyuubi No Jutsu"_****: Fire Dragon's Tail Jutsu  
_"Kasou No Nishikihebi"_: Cremation Python  
_"Doshimekorosu No Jutsu"_: Earth Strangle Jutsu  
_"Shokuton: Shinyousei No Shita"_: Plant technique: Tongue of the Forest Fairies  
_"Shokuton: Bakuhatsu Houshi"_: Plant technique: Explosive Spores  
_"Doton: Jigoku No Deifuro"_: Earth style: Hell's Mud Bath**

_Next: Orochimaru is up to something and he uses Ame's current condition as an advantage. Totally one of the worst days Kakuzu and Nagayoshi will have._


	32. Somebody Wants to Say 'Hi'

**Chapter 31: Somebody Wants to Say 'Hi'**

A smirk stretched across his pale skin. A messenger had just told him about the situation around the environment he used to work in. Ever since making the act of treason and singlehandedly, in its literal term, defected from that place, he resided in a small country which he claimed as his own a couple of years before the treason began. He lived there, ruled it, and became a heroic figure to most of the people. Now that he heard of the situation in Amegakure, for some reason, he felt the path to success was brightened before him. He chuckled darkly as he said, "Civil war, hmm? How befitting…"

He stood from his large-backed seat and sophisticatedly made his way through an underground tunnel. His long black hair waved behind him. In the poorly lit corridor, his eyes tracked for the door where his secret project was about to commence. It wasn't hard for him to find the right room. He knew the insides of this tunnel like he knew his own body. He turned the knob, entered, and once again a smirk crossed his face.

In this wide world, billions of voices spoke in both loud and soft projections. The loud ones were effortlessly heard, raising the mouths hollering them high up from their ground with the sky as the only limit. The soft ones, however, weren't as fortunate. With a limit no higher than a peasant's house, their voice was unheard and, thus, ignored, leaving the speakers powerless. Powerless; just like this sixteen-year-old boy crucified in the middle of a kinjutsu circle. His subconscious moans of being tortured was unheard by the heroes pacing fifteen feet above the room he was locked in. It wasn't even heard by the two men conversing a few feet away from him.

"The preparation is finished, Orochimaru-sama." the white-haired boy said to the older black-haired male.

"Terrific." Orochimaru hissed, in his enthusiasm of launching his brand new forbidden jutsu. "Now pour the ashes and step back, Kabuto." he told his assistant, which used to be his ex-partner's subordinate.

Unquestioning his orders, Kabuto picked up the jar of a dead man's ashes, walked towards the half-conscious boy and poured them in front of his feet. Using his free hand, Kabuto kept the ashes from getting blown away as the dusts of a dead man gathered in the open air. Luckily, in this secret place, fifteen feet underground, no wind could slip in. Once the ashes made small grayish mountain in front of the unfortunate boy's feet, Kabuto walked away, careful not to smudge the ink-written circle his master made all night. He nodded to the black-haired master.

Orochimaru grinned deviously to himself and set his hands—his fixed hands—together. For a good three seconds, he created five hand seals, stopping on the last one and held it that way as he announced his jutsu. _"Edo Tensei!"_

Suddenly, a violent torrent of wind blew into the room from the very center of the circle. The ashes flew, following the wind's unnatural spiral pattern as it engulfed the boy with its almost unseen body. The boy momentarily screamed in great pain, feeling the ashes' particles wrapped almost too tightly around his feet. He could feel as each particle divided into microscopic molecules and dug deep into his flesh, gnawing his flesh. The ashes climbed up gradually to his thighs, to his torso, and to his head. His screaming was effectively shut up by the thick layering of the human dusts, now forming an entirely new person. A bigger, older, stronger, more experienced, and obviously undead person.

The delicate specks of cremated human skin had covered the boy's head completely; perfecting the corpse's features to resemble its looks in its lively days, save for the colors. The wind dramatically stopped. Orochimaru slapped both of his hands to the outer circle of the seal, activating it.

The scribbled wet ink on the ground glowed in flashy red and, like caterpillars, crawled to the newly formed person's legs. The letters and words stopped climbing as they reached the person's dirt-colored chest. There, they moved in a different pattern. Some of them moved to the person's back from both directions, left and right. Most of the scribbles collected themselves to the person's center of the chest. Then, it stopped once they had found their spot. Their glow disappeared; in turn, the person's soil-like color began to change. The skin became smoother, darker, and more elastic. The nails hardened; the hair turned bristlier, lighter in color than the skin: sienna. The person found the energy to lift his head and opened his eyes. He had different colors for each eye: the left eye had blue while the right one had lime green. His muscles began to move. Within seconds, he easily broke the rope that tied him to a crucified position. He dropped to his feet then stared at his hands, feet, and his yet-to-be-dressed body.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Welcome back, old chum." he greeted.

"Orochimaru." said the resurrected man glumly.

Still showing his devilish smirk, Orochimaru raised one eyebrow at the man he recently brought back from the grave. "Where's your infamous attitude? This isn't you I know."

The dark-skinned man scoffed. "The me you knew was just a façade to cover my rage. This is how the real me lives." He noticed Kabuto walking towards him with a pile of clean clothes on his hands. He grabbed them and put them on. "Now tell me, Orochimaru…" he said, zipping his pants. "Why do you bring me back to life?"

"Seeing how much we hate that organization we used to work at, I figure if I want to bring it down, I better have a partner who has more or less the same motive as I. Turns out, you're the perfect candidate." the pale man enlightened.

"Oh? So you're out too, huh? Fair enough, I know you want me to do your dirty work, whatever it is. Fine, I'll do it—on one condition." said the resurrected ex-Akatsuki member.

"Say it, my friend."

"I want my revenge."

**|-oOo-|**

"Gentlemen," Pein began, "thank you for coming in our weekly war meeting. As a reminder, it has been eight months and two weeks ever since Hanzo's descendants declared war on us—on me, to be exact. Now I want to hear your reports on enemy's position, starting from you, Itachi."

"No movement from Hanzo's daughter, Mizuka's division. They seem to be waiting for the other two divisions to move." Itachi stated with his icy voice. "I will inform immediately should anything drastically different happens."

"You sure you can wait for that long, Itachi?" Sasori's Hiruko-cover voice asked cynically.

"Don't compare me to you." the Uchiha simply replied.

Sasori scoffed. "Whatever."

"How about yourself, Sasori? You found anything?" Pein asked. His purplish-grey Rinnegan stared directly to the puppet master.

"Nothing. Everything's as boring as it can be." Sasori reported sourly. His boredom was clearly expressed through his voice that the rest Akatsuki members could feel his suffering.

"Zetsu?" Pein's eyes then turned to his far right.

"Hanzo's first son, Hamaki, just sent three small troops. **Each troop has about three to five hundred people. **I think they're taking precautions. **That's job for you, Kisame, Erai.**"

Erai rolled his eyes. Since the hologram mode showed them, everyone could see that Erai was tired of all of this 'finish 'em off' business. Kisame did the speaking. "Alright, no problem. These soldiers are nothing anyway, especially that they reduce the numbers into five hundred per troop. Only…we might need a new stock of mint candies for Erai. His voice attacks were less effective than usual."

"Muscle ache?" Kakuzu asked.

"Yeah, something like that." Kisame nodded.

"We need you to stay on the frontline. I give you the permission to rest whenever the time permits you both." Pein announced. He could see the gleam on the duo's eyes. "Kakuzu, Hokko, you have anything?"

"We've taken some spies, each time more cautious than the previous, but that was about it. We're still on our way to Hanzo's last son, Kama's base camp. If what Zetsu told a week ago was true, that Kama was the one with the schemes, then he should be the first one to be destroyed." Kakuzu said.

"We'll probably get there in a day or two. I can smell them grilling wild hares." Hokko added.

Pein nodded in acknowledgement. He then said, "It looks like you've been getting along."

"Eight months and two weeks. That's a new record." Sasori added. "Although it's second fastest of your get-along records, Kakuzu."

Kisame snorted at Sasori's mocking statement. He ignored Kakuzu's threatening growl, but since they were in hologram mode, there was no reason for Kisame to fear his hands would elongate and catch him on his neck. He stopped laughing not long after that, but his main focus was still on Kakuzu. "Oh! How's Nagayoshi? It's really sad that I missed her birthday this year. It was four days ago, right?" Kisame said. Upon knowing that the subject has changed, Kakuzu loosened up a bit. Erai's eyes widened, probably indicating that he also forget about Nagayoshi's birthday.

"That's right. What, you want to say something?"

"Just tell her that Erai and I said 'happy birthday'. Thirteen, right?" Kisame asked to make sure his memory was right. Kakuzu's nod confirmed it. "I'd really like to talk to her right now. I wanna know how things are going in the Old Men Club from her instead of asking it straightaway to the clubbers."

A feral growl vibrated through Kakuzu's hologram again. "You just did, jackass!" Kakuzu snarled.

Pein inaudibly sighed. The only indicator was his slowly shutting eyes and his head turning towards his partner. "Meeting's over. You are dismissed." His hologram and Konan's dissipated to thin air, followed closely by Itachi and Sasori. Zetsu went off too, the black one commenting on Kakuzu's temper. Erai left, even though he wanted to call Kisame to go too.

"See ya, _Oniisan_." Kisame bade his farewell mischievously. If only he wasn't in hologram mode, Kakuzu might be able to see Kisame's large grin and his heavy desire to punch those teeth off would have been uncontainable. Before Kakuzu got the chance to roar at the azure-skinned ninja, Kisame disconnected, thus his hologram vanished from the meeting point.

"C'mon, Kakuzu-san. Your kid's waiting." Hokko said before disappearing.

Kakuzu disconnected after Hokko, but his resentment still lasted even as his vision returned to normal. "Can you believe that guy?" Kakuzu started complaining. "I've been his favorite subject of name jokes as far as my memories could take me."

"Wow, then you are one valuable friend." Hokko commented oh-so-wisely. What he got was a glare which he began to grow accustomed to.

**|-oOo-|**

Nagayoshi had got used to waiting. She used to be quite a master in it when she was still a street rat thief. But the ability seemed to expire once she got into a better civilization, since her needs were more fulfilled there. Her patience span grew again after she defected from Kumo. This time, her patience was put to a test—again. For the last eight months, every week, every Wednesday, she would have to wait. Wait for her brother and his partner sitting on an immobile stance for two hours, max. The weekly meeting never got any longer than that. She guessed Pein knew what he was dealing with here so he better not stall his men from working.

However, in this particular day, just four days after her thirteenth birthday, she couldn't wait. Not that her patience was thinning; her apple supply was. Ever since the civil war began, she could only chew an apple twice a day, or once if they were having a battle. Her normal daily portion was four: one in the morning, one in midday, one in the afternoon, and a last one at night. Decreasing her daily portion didn't cause her any serious mental depravation, only it made her get hungry faster. Apple was like her drug, only more nutritional.

Last time she checked her bag, she only got one left. She had to get or buy some to refill her supply so she decided to go out for a while. She noted to herself to not go too far from her brother's position, so she only would go as far as her electromagnetic censor could bring her. She hauled her bag on her back and before she went, with her kunai, she left a gigantic message on the soil. It said, _'Going to get supplies. Won't be far away.'_ She had to add the last one, or else Kakuzu would have wrecked the forest just to search for her—well, not really.

With a small anxiety, Nagayoshi ventured the woods, looking for a familiar-looking tree. She found several mango trees but she didn't like mangoes. But then she remembered the season. It was summer…apples were yet to mature during the summer. She had to wait for the season to end until she could find wild apples.

Just as her hope nearly ended, she found her desired tree. The fruits were still hanging and there were lots of them. Nagayoshi's heart shone with delight. She skillfully climbed the tree up and studied the fruit's feature, measuring its maturity. Just like she thought, they were not ready to be harvested. She did find some that were ready to be picked prematurely. She wasted no time and took those. She stored them inside her bag. She may have to limit her apple portion again, but it did not matter. As long as she could stay focus on her job, she won't need many apples.

"Hello there, Nagayoshi!" a merry-sounding voice chirped, right as Nagayoshi landed from the apple tree. The voice alarmed the unsuspecting Nagayoshi. She didn't sense anyone coming towards her, especially since she turned on her censor to the maximum capacity. At the same time it rang a bell in her chest of memories. She hadn't heard this voice for almost a year. She didn't miss this voice; in fact, she was expecting to never hear this voice again. This voice…

…was long gone.

Hiding a shiver, she turned her neck around. Her heart gambled on chances and possibilities. Her eyes were wide from the surprise and developing panic. She had a feeling that her eyes were about to pop. Much to her dismay, she was right.

The sienna-haired lunatic menace was flashing his iconic toothy grin—the one that beat Kisame's flashy toothy grin—at her as she finally meet the speaker. She couldn't hide her vibrating intake of air anymore and now her body turned, following her neck. As her eyes met his, he giggled impishly. That stupid grin and annoying giggle; she remembered how many times those two expressions nearly drove her brother mad. That was it; her eyes really did pop out.

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Don't you remember me, Naga-pyon, or do you think I'm an impostor?"

Nagayoshi gasped. Nobody used that nickname to her but him. He only used it when they and Kakuzu were alone on missions. Back then, it was cute. Now, for some reason it was haunting. The young kunoichi encouraged herself to speak, "Ryouken…"

Said man laughed blissfully as Nagayoshi finally spoke out his name. "Yay! I knew you still remember me!" he whooped.

"Why are you here?" Nagayoshi asked sternly.

"Eh?"

"You're not supposed to be here! You…you were dead! Kakuzu-niisan killed you!" Nagayoshi exclaimed at him. Horror struck her; she said it—yes, Ryouken Tatsudao was supposed to be dead. Yet, here he was, laughing at her confusion.

The kunoichi noticed his face grew colder instantly. His giant smile dropped sharply into a dark scowl. The same baleful aura leeched harder from his differently colored eyes. "Ah, yes…" he said, retaining his talkative facets. "Your brother 'killed' me. That's right." Ryouken stared at Nagayoshi's obsidian eyes coldly. Nagayoshi gulped; those eyes he only gave to Kakuzu before his life was 'ended'. "You asked me why I'm here?" he repeated her question. "Well, the answer is simple: I want to take my revenge."

"Revenge? Because Oniisan killed you?"

Ryouken pouted his lip in a contemplating manner. He shrugged, "Yeah, something like that. No—it's more for my brother."

Nagayoshi gritted her teeth and her fists clenched. "Forget about it. You'll die again, like before. There's no way you're gonna beat him! He could defeat more than a hundred people at once!"

"Oh, really?" Ryouken asked cockily, raising an eyebrow. "I'm different now. _More_ than you think." He chuckled and added, "And besides, I've another unfinished business. This one is with you, Naga-pyon…" His eyes converged on her face, like a hunting tiger on a deer. He licked the upper row of his teeth in hunger of settling his business with the sister of his ex-partner. Looking at that eye, Nagayoshi know she had to go and run to Kakuzu's location She had to tell him; tell him that the so-called Hyena Man, who was supposed to be dead, was still alive—or alive once again. She briskly turned back, ready to use her trusty speeding jutsu. "What's the hurry, baby?" Ryouken whispered right behind her ear; his claws were on her shoulders.

Reflexively, Nagayoshi spun around and sent him a blow with a massive force. The laughing lunatic tumbled on the ground upon taking Nagayoshi's devastating punch. She may have punched him straight on his nose, but he got to leave his claw marks on both of her shoulders, deep enough that it scraped her skin out. Nagayoshi ignored the pain and proceeded by running in high speed. She could have just fought him head on. Then again, what did she know about this maniac's powers?

**|-oOo-|**

As soon as Kakuzu was done from the communication stance, he noticed the thick scrapings on the ground. It was from Nagayoshi, because who else would write such message but her? Kakuzu grunted lowly and stood, stretching his muscles. He then approached the message and erased it with his feet.

"Aren't you going to look for her? Call her that we're done?" asked Hokko, splaying out his legs to ease the nearly advancing cram.

"Nah, no worries. She said she won't be far away." the masked ninja replied, sitting back down and leaned against a tree. He picked up a book he put under the tree's bulging root beforehand. He separated the pages from the bookmark and continued reading.

Hokko shrugged and decided to relax with Kakuzu. He lit up one Cuban cigar and blew the first inhalation of smoke to the air. The two men just sat there doing nothing. After a few minutes, the atmosphere started to change. Hokko, who was concerned that they would delay their mission if they rested too long, finally got himself in too deep in the time out session that he started to strum his new guitar (which he store inside a yellow scroll, to prevent future unauthorized usage). On the other hand, despite the book's increasingly dramatic conflict and Hokko's lack of singing, Kakuzu was getting agitated. Finishing the last bits of the current chapter, Kakuzu closed the compacted pile of papers with a 'flop'.

He then heard a rustle of stepped down grasses. Kakuzu turned his body to look what might walk behind him. He was expecting his sister trying to pull a trick on him. A rabbit hopped out and sprinted to a burrow nearby. He grumbled, "God! What took that insensate brat so long?" Kakuzu ranted, throwing his arms to the air momentarily. "She's just taking some apples! How hard could it be?"

"Well, you would wanna check if it's worm-free." Hokko replied, the strumming on his guitar stopped. His partner's response was sharp and snappy.

"Shut up." Kakuzu hissed. "Just shut up."

Hokko soundlessly raised both of his hands and shrugged in defeat. It was then they heard distant quick steps and a high-pitched call.

"Oniisan!"

Kakuzu rolled his eyes. "Great. Just about time. Where've you been, you little nitwit?" he hollered at her, disregarding the fact that she was running. His brow muscles loosened, though, once she got closer and he could see the amount of sweat she was producing and the blood stain on her shoulders. She was injured, for some reason, and he could see it. Not only him, but his partner too.

The cowboy ninja quickly approached the black-haired girl, breaking her run. "Whoa, there, girl. Slow down…take a deep breath."

Panting, Nagayoshi spoke a hyperventilated "Okay…" and gasped for air. Hokko put his hand on her injured shoulder and as he took away his hand, he realized that there was more blood than he initially had anticipated.

"Kakuzu-san!" he called urgently. The oldest of the group came hurriedly. He, too, didn't really expect the amount of blood loss. "You're seeing this?" he showed the masked ninja his hand. Both of their eyebrows furrowed deeply in suspicion as they looked at each other.

Briskly, Kakuzu opened Nagayoshi's black jacket and put away her bag. The face of the wound just gave the two older men a staggering blow straight on the face. "What happened to you?" Kakuzu asked, almost frenetically. The shape of the wound aroused the two men's suspicion, but Kakuzu's raged the strongest. Those wounds didn't look like they were caused by a sword or any other type of sharp weapons. Before he could sum up his contemplation, Nagayoshi had worn back her jacket.

She said, "I'm alright. It's not me you should be worried about. It's him."

"Who him?" Hokko asked.

To Nagayoshi's terror, the maniacal laugh resonated from the same direction she came from. The two men of the trio whisked their head towards the source of the voice. Both were wary, but the senior from the two couldn't believe his eyes at the same time. The laugh rang out again. "It's been quite a long time, hasn't it, partner?"

Inside his mask, Kakuzu gaped, and he stiffened. Somewhat reflexively, he pushed Nagayoshi behind him. Ryouken sneered at his expression, bringing a handful of painful nostalgia where Kakuzu would have glared at that particular grin. However, the odium to that expression was absent for the moment. All that existed was shocks and qualms.

* * *

**OK—a very bad-time cliffhanger. What? I want all the action reserved for the next chapter (so that I can make you guys wait again! MUAHAHAHA!) Anyway, I know some people might say, "Aw, man! Why is this freaky dude back again?" and another some people might say, "YAY! Hyena Man is back!" Either way, it was my idea of bringing him back. It's to both give more occult drama to the series and to explore more of Ryouken's unknown power. (winks)**

**And I think it's understandable for two pedophiles get together and be friends, don't you think?**

**PS: I changed my pen name! So for those who thought that Bird Cloth was stolen by someone else, nope! It does not! It's just I'm falling in love with the blue swordsman all over again after reading the recent chapters of Naruto.  
**

_Next: The Laughing Maniac is back—with a vengeance! The fight between the two ex-partners will be intense and they won't let either one of them alive._


	33. Get Your Claws Off

**Chapter 32: Get Your Claws Off**

"Ryouken," Kakuzu spoke, half-hissing and half-stammering. "How…how could you still be alive? I broke your neck and Zetsu showed he'd burned you into ashes! You're supposed to be completely gone!" he said, at the same time reminded himself and the supposedly-dead Ryouken that the latter had gone from existence.

The Hyena Man laughed loudly and freely. He shook his head as the fit of laughter cease. "Oh my god, Kakuzu-dono, I never expect to see your expression like this!" He snickered some more. "A friend of mine lend me a hand and brought me back to life. That simple."

"I don't recall you have many friends." Kakuzu retorted.

"You're right. I don't have many friends, but I do have one. You know him; I even think you fought him before he ran away."

Both Kakuzu and Nagayoshi gasped. "Orochimaru?" they both exclaimed in unison.

"One of the legendary Sannin?" Hokko asked in disbelief. "He was in Akatsuki?" Nobody answered him, but Hokko didn't need spoken answers. Judging from the situation, his guess was right.

Ryouken's eyes moved from the masked ninja to the one with a hat. He tilted his head to the side. "Well, well, who's this? My replacement?"

Nagayoshi tugged on Kakuzu's sleeves and whispered. "Oniisan, he's just rambling. He's after you."

Kakuzu shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He shouldn't let Ryouken disturb him too much. Moreover, he had a duty to do. If the presence of his ex-partner distracted him from his main goal, he won't let it alive for too long. "I'm sort of in a hurry. Let's finish this, shall we, Baka?"

This time, it was Ryouken's eyes to expand. Those green and blue eyes grew somber and cold at the reminder of his arrival. Hokko noticed the drastic change and his spine tingled. He wasn't terrified by the change, but Ryouken's hatred was so thick that he could feel it through the surge of his chakra. The Hyena Man put his hands together, muttered something lowly and suddenly bristle fur with the same color as his hair grew dramatically around his arms and up to his shoulders and neck. His fingers were replaced by sword-sharp bendable claws.

"Just about time. I really wanted to rip all of your hearts out and break every bone in your body. After that, I'm gonna take your sister, do whatever I want with her—" Ryouken ducked, due to Kakuzu's in-a-flash punch. Kakuzu moved his other arm, slamming it down while Ryouken's head was on a low angle. He wouldn't let the dark-skinned man make a move. Ryouken rolled to the side but Kakuzu's unattached right hand shot at him and clutched his hair uncouthly. Without mercy, Kakuzu swung the maniac in circles before slamming him down from ten feet to the ground, creating a deep crater on the soil.

Kakuzu didn't let his guard off just yet. He should've died due to fractured skull and injured brain caused by the massive impact against the hard ground. But if he could walk again after being cremated, then Kakuzu was half-sure that he would go with just a slam. Much to his dismay, his skepticism betrayed him. He heard the same cackle and the slammed down man stood up again.

"You seriously think that would kill me?" Ryouken asked mockingly, cleaning the dusts from his clothes.

"No. But I know what will." Kakuzu cried as he launched another boulder-crashing punch. Ryouken jumped up, letting Kakuzu's punch to hit a tree behind him. He slashed his claws with a bellow but Kakuzu guarded his face with a pair of stone-hard arms. Once the claws were away, he put his arms down. Ryouken used this chance to thrust his claws straight to his chest.

The Hyena Man grinned insanely, feeling his bristle fur soaked by the older man's red fluid. Kakuzu stared down at his chest and stammered unclearly spoken words. He melted into a puddle of water. Ryouken's mad grin dropped instantly. He swore, "What the fuck?"

There was a rapid _whoosh_ coming from his left. A whip blazing on flames lashed its way at him. He yelped when the hot surface of the whip smacked across his abdomen and blundered on the ground. He with wobbly legs tried to stand but Kakuzu, who had returned from becoming a puddle, grabbed his legs still on the ground while his cigar-puffing partner had his arms around his head. With unspoken cue, Hokko forcefully tilted Ryouken's head to a point where his neck couldn't support and snapped.

Kakuzu panted and nodded gratifyingly at Hokko. The cowboy ninja bent down, studying Ryouken's motionless body. "This guy's freaky!" he commented. "I heard him say something about Nagayoshi-chan, what's that about?"

Kakuzu looked up to his current partner. "Well, it's a long story. You might wanna sit down." Kakuzu replied.

"Sorry." said a voice from below. "The dance is not over!" Ryouken shouted, jumping up standing and kicked Hokko on the diaphragm. The cowboy ninja tumbled aback, his Cuban cigar flew out of his mouth and the fire died out as its smoker's blood soaked it. Ryouken swiftly turned to Kakuzu and grated his claws across the taller man's chest. Kakuzu managed to hop back, but was not fast enough for the claws ripped some of his cloak. Ryouken dashed forward, thrusting his claws at Kakuzu's neck. He got him, but Kakuzu also got a hold on him. They both wrestled on the ground, like school kids fight. It would be a school kids fight, until one of them held the other's arm and made it bleed profusely.

Kakuzu howled in pain, feeling Ryouken's claws dug deeply into the flesh of his upper arm. While his ex-partner was shouting painfully, Ryouken laughed at his miser. His laugh only got louder and louder the more blood he squeezed out of Kakuzu's veins using his claws. His display of immense joy stopped due to a small hand with its fingers splayed on his head. The tips of the fingers dug into his thick unruly hair and touched his scalp. He glanced up to see a girl he used to try to rape.

"Get your dirty claws off of my brother!" Nagayoshi hissed and surged a great amount of electricity, equal to the amount created by a generator for a small house. She held her hand for quite a long time but to her astonishment, the Hyena Man wasn't even reacting. She looked down to her hand. She could feel her chakra flowing out. Even her body hairs were all standing up, indicating that there was electricity running through her body. Yet, why didn't this person shout or quiver? She knew about his bristle fur that could shield him from her detecting censor, but even an animal should've died being zapped by thousands of volts.

Nagayoshi's oxygen entrance was blocked close briskly in amidst of her mystification. She squirmed to get Ryouken's hand off, but he gripped her so tightly. She could feel blood on the sides of her head, making her realize how deep he dug his claws on her brother's arm. Her eyes glared at him with much anger, but he was unfazed by them. He returned the glare with a cold, heartless stare. Gritting her teeth, Nagayoshi grabbed a kunai from her back pocket and immediately stabbed the blade on his wrist. She stabbed him very deeply; the tip of the kunai saw peeked out from the opposite side.

Ryouken shifted his lime green and blue eyes to the kunai on his wrist. He perked an eyebrow, to Nagayoshi's surprise. "What's this? You think you can get away with that petty technique?" With his other hand, Ryouken pulled out the kunai with no wincing or moaning in pain. He didn't even bleed! It brought Nagayoshi to her worst terror.

"What the hell are you?" Nagayoshi asked.

Ryouken smirked. "Your biggest nightmare!"

Kakuzu dashed to his side and forcefully bent Ryouken's stretched out arm with his elbow. He meant to break it, but he heard no crackles. Ryouken winced due to the loss of grip on Nagayoshi's face. He moved back, flexing his supposed-to-be-broken arm. Nagayoshi, meanwhile, was in Kakuzu's arms.

"Oniisan, he doesn't look like the Ryouken I used to know. He didn't bleed, he didn't die after Hokko-san broke his neck…what did Orochimaru use on him?" Nagayoshi wondered, panting heavily now that she could breathe freely again.

Kakuzu shook his head. He, too, panted as hard as his sister. "I have not the foggiest clue of it. Whatever it is, Orochimaru has made a kinjutsu to resurrect the dead. Totally that freak shouldn't really be let alive."

Hokko joined them shortly. He walked slightly limply due to his aching diaphragm. He looked to his masked partner. "What should we do now?"

"We stop the street fight." Kakuzu said, opening his cloak's button one by one. He threw his cloak elsewhere and the red mask and the blue mask emerged out of their place and propped themselves beside Kakuzu's face. "Tch. I never have to use two masks on one person. We will burn him down and make him into ashes again."

Far in front of them, Ryouken cackled. "Wow! Even you have to use two of your masks! I'm telling you, mister, you're underestimating me. You should use all of them." He grinned scornfully, challenging Kakuzu to use his powers at the fullest.

"Hell no, I won't. I still have another fight ahead of me." Kakuzu answered coldly, forming hand seals rapidly. _"Katon: Banshou Zan Moto No Jutsu!"_ The red mask's mouth gaped promptly and tiny red darts flew towards the undead man. The darts flew in a speed faster than a speeding train and they came in swarms. Ryouken jumped here and there in order to avoid being stabbed multiple times by the darts. He hid behind a tree, but the vegetation was too weak to protect him and the darts easily cut the tree down. Ryouken guarded his head from falling branches and his eyes winced due to the dust around him. While his guard was down, he missed a serpent made of fire snatching him with its fiery jaws and then wrapped its body around him. The serpent tugged and he came out of the dust falling and strangled still. He squirmed to get free; the serpent hissed menacingly at him with its teeth sunken to his flesh.

A pair of feet with toes painted in black stepped beside his head. He looked up to see the masked ninja staring at him resentfully, sending him a message to never come back and disrupt his life again. His hands formed a couple of hand seals. _"Raiton: Gia—"_ Kakuzu couldn't complete his jutsu. Ryouken all of a sudden was out of the fire serpent's grip and once again tried to strangle his neck. The fur grew wilder, now covering chest and back too. His claws were also getting larger and, of course, more lethal. The masks were lacerated from Kakuzu's body, leaving a decapitated-like sense as they wriggled on the ground. Ryouken's eyes were insanely wide, hungry with that intent to finish Kakuzu with his own hands.

He growled and chortled in an equally insane way. "I saw it, Kakuzu, and I remember. I remember how your filthy hands struck right at his chest to his back. I'll kill you the same way as you kill him and then you'll feel his pain…!" He chuckled again and raised one of his hands, his fingers gathered close to create an illusion as if his claws were a javelin, ready to pierce Kakuzu through all of his hearts. And _BAM!_

A roundhouse kick from Nagayoshi's well-trained legs sent him off from Kakuzu. Nagayoshi was merciless now; she pulled out her baton, its metallic skin coated in her electrical chakra. She swerved the rod, lashing Ryouken several times on the face, chest, neck, and back. Once she felt enough hitting, she rapidly formed hand seals. A jutsu both she and Ryouken knew too well. Ryouken lunged at the recently thirteen-year-old with a feral growl. Nagayoshi attempted to get away, but Ryouken came faster than she thought. Her palm had glowed; Ryouken hounded her like a hunting lion. Reflexively, Nagayoshi thrust her arm out, even though she knew the distance was too close. Then it was just like that: _VROOOOM!_

The maniacal Hyena Man was only hips and legs. Nagayoshi injected a little too much chakra on her jutsu that the result of it was more than simply explosive. And since Nagayoshi had her glowing hand entirely on Ryouken's face, the _Raihou_ current was shortly blocked and it exploded violently. Not only Ryouken lost half of his body, but Nagayoshi's hand (in this case, the left hand) was severely singed.

Hokko helped his partner stood and the two men looked at the staggered girl, now sitting on her rear with shock all over her face. Kakuzu noticed the way she stared Ryouken's body. He knew Nagayoshi just did something that ended in her fear of mutilated bodies. She stared at her singed hands; one clue to see where her emotions would take her. Kakuzu tried to distract her from the view. "Nagayoshi!" he called. To his relief, she turned her head around. He nodded approvingly. "You've done a great job. Now come here."

Nagayoshi nodded; her breathing heavy. She tried to stand up, but the effect from close-ranged _Raihou_ made her feet wobbly. The sound of the jutsu's explosion also disturbed her ears. She had to stand still for a few seconds to adjust her footing and her hearing. After a moment, she heard Hokko asking her about her condition. She forced a smile and answered, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay!" Slowly, she tried to walk towards them.

Kakuzu and Hokko suddenly had their eyes bulging. They both thrust their bodies affront briskly and Hokko stretched out his arm at her. They both were shouting at her. "Nagayoshi, look out!"

Confused of what they were witnessing, Nagayoshi turned around. It was merely a second where she heard a roar and her field of vision was suddenly filled with sienna fur and her own red. She felt his claws dug into the flesh of her right waist and they dragged up the way to her left shoulder across the middle of her growing breasts. Her bones on her legs felt like they were taken and Ryouken's arms sent her flying aside. She didn't feel the pain of being flicked away, but she did feel the condensed specks of soil clashed with her skull and spine. She squirmed.

"Nagayoshi!" the men shouted, the masked one was more frantic than the one with the hat. Hokko rushed to the girl's side while Kakuzu was left to deal with the mad man.

Ryouken's head was still partially reformed, but Kakuzu could see how he could survive all the attacks. His body seemed like it was made of ashes—his ashes, perhaps. Even if he was shot until only his toe was left, the ashes will find a way to gather around and reformed the undead person. And since a single particle of ash was incredibly small, no matter what you do, they will find a way out and gather.

The Hyena Man laughed madly as he looked at his regeneration process. "Hahaha! Orochimaru, you genius son of a bitch!" he laughed on. "Let's finish this, Kakuzu." Ryouken snarled, bracing his larger claws and licked his upper row of teeth. Kakuzu didn't vocally respond to the maniac, but he agreed with him. The two tan-skinned men charged towards each other, using their bodily weapon to eventually kill each other.

While they fought, Hokko examined Nagayoshi's large wound. Woman's privacy was ignored for this time being as he removed Nagayoshi's jacket and white baggy tank-top. If he didn't throw away his shyness, the girl won't survive. He bit his lip upon seeing the long and bloody red gush expanding diagonally across her chest and abdomen. "Damn…" he swore hushedly. He took his other whip, the one with orange handle instead of yellow. He put the orange handle in Nagayoshi's hand and closed her fingers for firmer hold. He then tied the end of the whip around his wrist. With his other hand, he created a single-handed seal. _"Nenrei Tensou Mimizu: Ataeru!"_

Blue chakra leached out of Hokko's skin and crawled down through the whip's body and into Nagayoshi. The girl squirmed and groaned, feeling the chakra rubbed her supersensitive gush with a painful friction. The cowboy ninja tried to shush the girl, holding her hand to give her comfort. Tears trickled from her eyes. Hokko scowled slightly; he understood her pain for she was not the first one to feel the effect of the whip. He drifted his eyes to the battle scene occurring somewhere far beside him.

He still could hear them fighting, but the two men were no longer in the area near him and Nagayoshi.

**|-oOo-|**

Kakuzu had worked with Ryouken for as long as he could remember. He used to be one of the long-living Akatsuki member ever paired with the masked ninja. Well, he could have short-lived long time ago, but his fate was intertwined with Nagayoshi's by that time, thus Ryouken's age lasted for another few years.

He had witnessed Ryouken's fighting ability and studied it. While working with him, Ryouken always stole ninety percent of his spotlight. He didn't argue; at least he didn't have to spend a single energy. While his partner took all the action, it was Kakuzu's chance to learn and observe his partner's ability. At first, it was to adjust and plan for strategy, but after said person caused a serious hemorrhage on her sister, he used his knowledge to avoid possible death.

Ryouken was actually slower than Kakuzu, but due to his half-animalistic transformation, his speed was equal to his, or even faster. Being a warrior for decades, he knew how to counter speedy and precise attacks. Kakuzu made himself move slower but at the same time pumped his muscles and superhuman strength harder. Ryouken's claws now made little, almost no effect on him. All Kakuzu needed to do was to sustain his weight when he charged his full body at him like a battle ram.

Kakuzu spun around, his back touched Ryouken's torso, and bent forward. His hands clutched one of Ryouken's arms strongly and with the help of his bent back, he hurled Ryouken to the front and slammed him to the ground like a hammer. Thick mass of tendrils shot out of the opening above his elbows and stabbed Ryouken on the stomach and chest. The Hyena Man snickered at the attempt of crushing his internal organs—which he did not have any longer. "Do you think you can kill me the same way again, you idiotic grandpa? I'm invincible!"

"I know." Kakuzu replied icily; the bloody agony of Nagayoshi still poisoned his emotions. "At least I know how to keep you away from me, my sister, and the rest of the organization." Kakuzu rapidly formed a series of hand seals. He knelt down and tapped his hand on the ground. _"Suiton: Chika-sui No Haisui!"_

The ground shook as if a volcanic activity was taking place. Kakuzu detached his masses of tendrils off of Ryouken's body just as a whirlpool of underground water spiraled upwards, out of the underground. The whirlpool spun ten times faster than a normal whirlpool, therefore Ryouken's non-fleshy body diluted quickly as the gyration got faster as it went to the bottom. There were no screams, but Kakuzu could see his vengeful eyes shot at him before they disappeared with the drain. The water ran in a nature-made tunnel, thirty feet beneath the surface. The whirlpool's violent emergence created a large hole that showed the straight way down to the underground river. Kakuzu made another set of hand seals. _"Doton: Dogai!"_

Seeing that the mad avenger was gone and (hopefully) not going to be back, Kakuzu let himself sigh in relief. He retracted the two mask monsters to their dormant stance on his back. Ryouken may have had cut their heads, but he barely touched the vital point, so the masks were still alive. He winced all of a sudden; he just remembered that he had deep claw injections on one of his upper arms. He looked at the five holes made by Ryouken's claws and mentally commanded his tendrils to sew the wounds together. Thinking of wounds, he remembered another one with much more fatality level than his own and rushed back to where he left her.

He didn't realize he had moved to another place when he fought the maniac. He even got away a little too far from where they started. Luckily, instincts and his excellent sense of direction led him back to see his sister no longer in much pain and his partner leaning exhaustedly against a tree close to the thirteen-year-old. His distress was multiplied by two.

He dropped to his knees as he got close to Nagayoshi whose face and neck were entirely smothered in sweat. He lifted the black jacket blanketing her body only to see a more painful sight. He had seen wounds larger than this, actually, but no human could lie about wounds suffered by someone dearest are the ones most affecting. He heard her breathing harder, indicating that she was forcing her conscience to stay up a bit. He saw her eyes searching for him and he grabbed her hand. "Nagayoshi…" he muttered softly.

"…Oniisan…" she breathed weakly. Her obsidian eyes finally met his green ones. "Is he dead? Did you win?"

Kakuzu nodded slowly. "I won, but I don't think he's dead. He shouldn't be out of the ground again, or at least, he won't show up near us again." he said.

Nagayoshi forced out a smile. "Let's hope he won't."

Kakuzu smiled back halfheartedly yet his mask concealed it. He returned his eyes to Nagayoshi's wounds. He released the grip on her hand and walked up to her bag, in which he entrusted his medical kit. "Hang on. This might be a little painful."

"I'm tired of groaning in pain, but okay."

Kakuzu noticed that half of the wounds' fatality was already healed and judging from his partner's overtiredness, he could guess that the cowboy ninja did the first part. He didn't know he had healing abilities, but he decided to ask that later. Much to Kakuzu's surprise, Nagayoshi didn't groan or yelped as much as he expected. The infection had gone some, only leaving the cut to be stitched up. It was when his tendrils undulated in and out of her flesh did she start to yelp some more. It took only about thirty minutes for the masked ninja to close the large wound and then cleaned the blood. After that, he could rest. He leaned against the same tree Hokko had been leaning against.

"Did you reduce the infection?" Kakuzu asked, panting and opened his mask for easier breathing.

Between pants, Hokko answered, "Yeah, and the bleeding too. It was a tough job, but worth it."

"Worth what?" Kakuzu asked again.

"This whip," he lifted the orange-handled whip weakly, "has an ability to take or give people's lifespan. I just gave two years of mine to her. I should be able to give more, but I have a limited chakra and I still have another thing to do. Heh, I know I'm a little selfish…"

"No." Kakuzu interjected, watching his sister drifting to sleep. "You've done enough. Thanks, Hokko, for saving her."

"Eh, no problem. I can't stand looking a kid die, you see." he replied with a weak satisfied smile. The two men were silent for the next one minute. "I really want to know more about that zombie guy that attacked us, but I really fancy a nice nap now." And just like that, Hokko slept on the grassy ground with a thud.

Kakuzu was still awake, but any second soon, his eyelids were about to drop too. He murmured, "Yeah, me too."

**|-oOo-|**

Somewhere on the farther outskirts of Land of the Rain, a small river met a bigger one. A deer and her young were taking some time drinking on the riverbank. A splash made them straighten their heads brusquely and they scampered as a hand pulled itself up from the water. Behind the hand was an arm, a shoulder and soon, the whole body. The head of the body growled menacingly, intimidating a passing raccoon and wild cats.

"This is _not_ over yet, Kakuzu!"

* * *

**How's the waiting? :D**

**Damn, Ryouken's a total invincible Larry-Stu here. Lucky for us, Mary-Sues/Larry-Stus as a villain is big OK, because we can kill them in any way we want. D - Unfortunately, I haven't really thought about how to kill him exactly. Think, Me, think!**

**I don't care what you guys think but I always have this strong feeling that Kakuzu is quite a brotherly/fatherly figure once he interacts with juveniles. That theory was what spawned this story! Just because the canon series didn't say anything about his personality, doesn't mean it doesn't exist! ;D – That's also the reason he's #2 on my favorite anime characters list, second to Kisame Hoshigaki.**

_Next: There was someone serving as Kakuzu's partner before Ryouken and after Erai's master. He was Ryouken's beloved younger brother. What did Kakuzu do that hatred and vengeance sparked between them?_


	34. The Horns of a Bull

**Chapter 33: Horns of a Bull**

**

* * *

**

There was an irritated groan from Kisame. "Dude, we just had a meeting yesterday! What's with the urgency?"

Pein shifted his purplish-grey Rinnegan to Kisame's white ones. "I called you all in granting Kakuzu's wish." he answered Kisame's exasperation calmly, drifting his eyes to Kakuzu's green-in-red eyes.

Kisame noticed that the grouping missed one person. "Hey, where's Hokko-san?"

"He's watching over my sister. I'm here to represent myself and him at the same time." Kakuzu said.

Before the tall blue ninja could say or ask anything, Pein talked ahead of him. "So what is it that you want to tell us, Kakuzu?" the Leader asked.

There was a sigh from Kakuzu's side. "This may sound unbelievable, but trust me, what I'm about to say is true. Yesterday—fourteen hours ago, at least—my group was attacked by a resurrected Ryouken."

The reaction to his statement was varied, depending on the person. Even the most stoic like Itachi and Sasori actually gave a non-secretive response. Kisame was the one with the loudest reaction. "Ryouken? You mean the insane, smelly, imbecilic and shabby Ryouken?"

Kakuzu held the urge to roll his eyes at Kisame's over elaborate description of the zombie ninja (though he used the same thing when he was still alive) and nodded instead. "And you shouldn't be complaining about the meeting, Kisame. My sister was badly hurt because of him."

Kisame turned his holographic body at Kakuzu. Erai, too, stiffened his standing position. His eyes showed enough shock from the news. Kisame's shoulders drooped; Kakuzu was right, he shouldn't have complained. So he, talking for Erai as well, asked, "How is she?"

"The bleeding had stopped, thanks to Hokko. However, she is still so weak that she can't even move anywhere. Someone has to watch over her."

Pein knew what the masked ninja had in mind when his sister's welfare was concerned. Thus, he said, "I don't want your personal matter hinders you from doing your duty, Kakuzu. You have a big role in this war and I need your power. Think that if you win—"

"That is exactly what I'm thinking!" Kakuzu interjected, unknowingly releasing a little too much emotion. He took a deep breath. "Sorry…but I can't possibly keep a clone alive while I'm using my power in its full capability."

"Even the unbeatable Kakuzu has limits, huh?" Sasori remarked snidely.

"If that's the problem, then let me or Erai do it." Kisame said, half-requesting.

"I can't send you either, Kisame, or you, Erai. You two have the same role Kakuzu and Hokko. Neither can I send Itachi, Sasori or Zetsu. They are spies; I need them to deliver me information on enemies' new location and recent activity."

"Then let me." Konan spoke up. "My job is only to make sure that our secret passages aren't found out by enemies. I believe you still can monitor the passages with that distance, right? It's not too far from the village."

Pein nodded. "Very well. Kakuzu, Konan will be the one watching over your sister while you and Hokko do what you're supposed to do in this war. After your job is done, you are welcomed to go back to the base for a while. This Ryouken-being-alive issue can't be taken lightly."

"Indeed it can't." Kakuzu agreed. "He told me himself that Orochimaru helped him to live again." Once again, Kakuzu brought dilated eyes and gasps to himself with his information. "I know him enough to be able to tell when he's lying or when he's not. And since he and Orochimaru are quite close friends, I guess it's not impossible for his words to be true."

"I knew he's up to something." said the white side of Zetsu. **"It's not once he asked me to give him one or two bodies of our dead former members. **He used to ask for Yauji's ashes too. **But it looks like his new fancy jutsu didn't work back then.**" They looked to Erai who gave them a long series of hand language. From the look of his eyes, he was heavily anxious, hoping in his heart that Orochimaru didn't do what his deepest feelings didn't want him to. "Yes, he asked for his body too." White Zetsu answered Erai's question. And then it was no secret to the whole organization that Erai was outraged. The fire flickering in his Prussian blue eyes told everything.

Pein sighed heavily. "Alright, before we dismiss, here's another catch for you guys. If by any chance, you encounter Ryouken, kill him. The same thing goes if you see or encounter Orochimaru. No mercy for these people." Pein commanded.

"About Ryouken," Kakuzu added, "he's not as easy to kill anymore. He regenerates very quickly if hurt or even destroyed. Nagayoshi managed to shoot half of his body with _Raihou_ before she got her wounds. I don't know if you may find a way to kill him permanently, but when you can't, make sure you incapacitate him long enough for him to regenerate back." Kakuzu explained. He may care less for the other members, but that didn't mean he has to be selfish and keep all the information for himself. He wanted Ryouken to be destroyed once and for all, anyway.

"Thank you, Kakuzu. Now, you are dismissed." Pein concluded the emergency meeting and disconnected.

"Kakuzu," Konan called before either she or Kakuzu went disconnected too, "stay where you are until I come. I'll go immediately." she said.

Kakuzu nodded, clearly appreciating Konan's willingness to help. He and the blue-haired woman's hologram dissipated and Kakuzu returned to the real world. Hokko was helping Nagayoshi to sit, leaning against a smooth-edged boulder. He stood up and approached his badly hurt sister. "Don't force yourself to sit, sis. Your wounds aren't completely healed."

Nagayoshi grunted in an unladylike manner. "I'm tired of lying down on the grass. It's itchy and there was a centipede mistaking my ear as an insect burrow!" she complained, earning her a pair of rolling eyes from Kakuzu.

"Seven years and you're still such a big whiny pain in the ass." Kakuzu sighed, planting a rather soft fist on top of Nagayoshi's head.

Nagayoshi chuckled and winced when she accidentally moved her painful part. She took a deep breath to ease the pain. She looked up to Kakuzu again. "Hey, Oniisan," Kakuzu turned and she continued, "are you sure you wanna do this? I mean you just had a pretty big fight yesterday. Now you're going up against two-hundred-something people?"

"It's my and Hokko's mission. Anyway, if we don't move quickly, they'll be ahead of us and destroy Amegakure." Kakuzu answered. "I've fallen asleep for ten hours, by the way, and that's more than enough energy restoration."

"Do you do this because of your contract with Akatsuki or because Pein-sama threatened to kill you, or me, if you ever disobey him?" Nagayoshi asked.

Kakuzu froze while Hokko wowed at the girl's smack-dab question. He never knew this kind of question could come out of her mouth. He was not angry nor was he trying to deny the question. He turned to his sister slightly, "None. It's all my free will. Oh, and Akatsuki has no contract. You're making that up."

"If it is you have free will, then why?" Nagayoshi asked.

Kakuzu turned his body completely to Nagayoshi; his jade eyes bore strong seriousness that was in him. "You have a free will too. Why did you choose to follow me? I'm not talking about the first day; it's about that fateful day when I gave you two choices."

Nagayoshi's eyes dilated and her head soon hung low. Her eyebrows drooped as with her eyelids.

"Don't start arguing with me if you can't beat me. I have more solid reasons to struggle with yours." Kakuzu said rather coldly towards her. His ears then caught thuds coming from the sky. It was a little too loud for a mere blow of the wind or for flapping wings of an eagle. Kakuzu knew, by then, what that was. "She's coming."

"Oh, dear lord!" Hokko stood upright, wore his hat and dusted unseen dirty particles from his clothes. He even checked the odor of his breath. Unbeknownst to the ninja with the hat, that little grooming earned him a weird look for Nagayoshi. He stood straight just as sheets and sheets of paper descended from the sky and formed into a beautiful blue-haired woman.

"Am I late?" Konan asked as the papers completed the last few pieces of her face and hair.

"No. Actually, you're just in time. There's your whiny patient sitting." Kakuzu directed his arm towards the girl who was pouting at him sourly. "Hokko! We're going now."

Hokko grimaced but followed his senior nonetheless. As he passed Konan, he raised his hat and said, "See you soon. We won't be long!"

Konan just gave him an indifferent stare as he grinned at her. It only relieved her when his figure finally disappeared amongst the woods.

"He's so crushing on you." Nagayoshi remarked.

"Can we not talk about that?"

**|-oOo-|**

"Why do you want to take an eye on me? I'm just a subordinate." Nagayoshi said solemnly. She handed her hand out to receive an apple from Konan's bigger hand. She whispered her gratitude and started to chomp the fruit down.

Meanwhile, as she set herself sitting beside Nagayoshi, Konan answered, "I don't see the difference between members and subordinates. But seriously, I think you're the first subordinate to get to hang out with me. So far, I never really had any interests with subordinates and leave them with their masters. Maybe…because you're the first female subordinate ever."

Nagayoshi nearly choked and she whipped her head to the older woman beside her. "Really? I am?" She laughed, slightly bitter on the tone. "Sorry for being a little mean, but isn't that gender discrimination?"

"It's woman emancipation. I can't help it! Akatsuki hadn't had any woman members as far as my memories could take me. I've been living among men for years. I don't know if it's because there are more man criminals than woman or Pein only chooses man for members." Konan rambled. Being with another female (whose mind entered the adultery life prematurely, courtesy to several minor misleading occurrences), she didn't hesitate opening up her mind. It felt good to her; she could use this kind of conversation occasionally.

"Or maybe because women never really have any interest with organizations with world domination mumbo jumbo." Nagayoshi added. They both suddenly quieted, surprisingly for quite a long time too. "Nah, not really." they both broke the silence in perfect unison.

"Maybe it's us being too boyish, huh?" Konan asked, folding her legs and hugged the knees together. "I can't seem remember to interact with any other women other than those village women crooning their adorations to me—and that's not even conversing!"

"I'm a little bit on the lucky side. My childhood was actually has more females than males. Then again, I'm always dominant on the boy's side. Yep, you're right. We _are_ too boyish." Nagayoshi grimaced, since she couldn't fold her legs the way Konan did, especially with her injuries on the way.

Another silence ensued. Using this moment, Nagayoshi glanced the blue-haired woman sideways, through the corners of her eyes. Her eyes studied Konan's features. The silky blue hair, the neatly-crafted flower hairpiece, her lower lip piercing, her eye shadow, and going lower, her under-the-cloak outfit…they were all so feminine, despite her self-description. Then Nagayoshi tried to look at herself. What about her looks? _Oh, _she thought, _so not feminine._ It was obvious: the choppy, really short black hair, the lack of make-up, the lack of accessories, the underdeveloped breasts (though it was the least of her worries, since she knows they'll grow some day), the baggy white tank-top and jacket, and the big pair of feet were all sort of boyish. Now she had a new manly mark: battle scars. She never cared about her own appearance—ever—but in the recent couple of weeks, she started to think differently of herself. She even found it ironic that she never complained about how others look.

"How could you stay _that_ way while you're living among men?" Nagayoshi asked. She swung her apple-holding hand as she gestured to emphasize Konan's femininity other than stressing on 'that'.

With a little start, Konan looked to herself. "Um, I don't…really know. I guess girls will be girls; just like boys will forever be boys. Hey, we're all blessed with this instinct that keeps reminding us about who we are. I think so far you've been doing a good job; look! You're wearing women's footwear, despite knowing that your feet are a little bit oversized. Although, yeah, you could really change your clothes—except the pants, I like your pants. So much better than my black ones I'm wearing right now."

Nagayoshi suddenly pouted and dropped the hand she used to eat the apple Konan had given her. "Somehow, the term 'make over' makes me depressed. I don't think I will feel the same way again after doing such a thing."

Konan's delicate hand landed on Nagayoshi's shoulder. She squeezed it a little, massaging it gently. "I was just suggesting. If you like the way you look right now, it's okay. You're just thirteen, anyway. You have a lot of time to look for your true self and then change however you like, as long it satisfies you and it makes you feel good about yourself."

"My true self? What does that mean? What should I do to find it?" Nagayoshi asked, intrigued by that specific part of Konan's sayings.

The blue-haired woman shrugged, "Beats me. It's one of your 'life goals'. It's not really my business, but maybe I can help a little." The older woman smiled serenely to the younger.

Nagayoshi smiled wryly. "Growing up sounds like a hard work."

**|-oOo-|**

Two ninjas caterwauled due to the fiendishly hot fire licking their backs and up to their front. It would not take more than a minute until their body was completely engulfed in fire. There was a group of ninjas, circling one enemy and then suddenly they all flew upwards and hang on lifelessly in mid-air, a thick heap of tendrils stuck on their chests. On the root, stood Kakuzu, eyes bitter and heart was impatient.

Hokko made a time to look over his partner, a little worried on his side. Eight months and two weeks was enough for him to know his partner. Moreover, he already knew a little of his history, since he was born and grew up for the first fifteen years of his life in Takigakure, Kakuzu's home village. The masked Akatsuki may stood in the middle of petals of dead bodies sturdily, but Hokko knew that storm inside his chest was still raging, though faintly. He hadn't got the full answer from his yesterday's question; about Ryouken and what he had done to both Kakuzu and Nagayoshi. He could see easily that the unruly-looking man's presence was a great threat and that Ryouken was someone that used to make a great impact in the adoptive siblings' life, but he wanted to know more.

The subdivision they attacked today did not reach five hundred people. In fact, it was nearly half of Zetsu's estimation. Hokko should thank the gods; because it was only about a half, he and Kakuzu needed lesser time to finish them all. The two men did a quick check on their victims, seeing if there were ninjas still alive. They killed those that still could make a sound from their esophagus. While looking, Hokko used this solitude to speak.

"I don't know if you remember, but I was asking you to tell me more about that freaky zombie guy named Ryouken. First off, what did he do that makes you, and more especially, Nagayoshi-chan so wary?" the cowboy ninja asked. He stabbed a ninja on the head, seeing him blinking and groaning.

There was a leaden sigh coming from the masked ninja. Hokko thought he would tell him to zip his mouth up, but apparently, his guess was wrong. "Ryouken is like your exact opposite." he said. He sat on a small pile of bodies, massaging his eyebrows.

"Opposite how?" Hokko asked again, turning to see the face of his partner.

"Well…" Kakuzu sighed again. "If you're doing crime to save the lives of children, he did crime for the other way around."

Hokko blinked rapidly, eyes dilating and slightly loosened as he straightened his back. Kakuzu's eyes met his and the masked man knew exactly what ran inside that brain of his. "He did what?" Hokko nearly shouted in disbelief.

"Exactly." Kakuzu replied, despite that Hokko's voice didn't say anything much about what was inside his mind. "He nearly did it to my sister. Good thing I came in right on time. Ryouken is strong, even though he looks kinda stupid. That's why he could outsmart her."

Hokko, for a good few seconds, was somewhat distressed, probably an empathy toward the victims of the maniacal serial killer and child rapist. Kakuzu felt he could understand his partner's feelings; he would feel the same thing when he heard or saw someone misusing money. He saw the man with a hat strode uneasily from left to right. Kakuzu stayed quiet until his partner cooled off. It did took quite some time, but at last, the cowboy ninja settled himself and sat on top of another heap of dead bodies across the masked ninja. "Okay. Okay…" he sighed, relieving his suppressed anger. "So he killed many children. I can't forgive that, but I'm still curious what makes him so furious at you."

"Well, long before you joined or before Nagayoshi and I met, there was this incident. You see, Ryouken didn't join Akatsuki alone. He was with his younger brother, named Yauji. I don't know if you know, but Ryouken, Yauji, and their other brother were used to be a very well-known band of criminals back when they still reside in Kumogakure. The other brother—I never learn of his name—died some time after the three of them defected and chased by Kumo's ANBUs. However, the two left managed to escape. At the same time, my partner prior to you and Ryouken and two other members died…

_8 years ago_

"_The Akatsuki wants you two to be our new members." Orochimaru said coldly; his arms crossed and his mouth pulled a smug smirk. His hunched-back partner shot daggers at the ebony-skinned brothers with headbands worn slantingly on their heads._

_The younger yet taller of the two blinked. One of his eyebrows elevated while the other one pressed on his eye. "What the hell's Akatsuki? And did you say it needs new members? Does that mean it's some sort of club or something?"_

"_What is there for us?" Ryouken asked, stepping forward._

"_Aniki!" Yauji exclaimed. He stared warily at Orochimaru and Sasori, distrust flashed from his light brown left eye and blue-grey right eye. "I don't think it's a good idea…" he murmured._

"_Relax, Yauji." Ryouken turned to his little brother, grinning optimistically. The younger of the brothers shrunk submissively, but his eyes still showed distrust._

"_What do you want?" Sasori asked._

"_Who—me?" Ryouken asked back, pointing himself. "Nah, I just want a place to settle and I still want to hunt cute, young girls. You know, they make cute shrill screams when you touch them in a particular way."_

_The long black-haired man chuckled lightly. "You're right. I agree with you." Orochimaru replied. His shorter partner on his left rolled his eyes._

"_Haha! You think so, old man? Cool!"_

_Orochimaru then stared at Yauji coolly. "How about you?"_

_Yauji frowned. He didn't feel so good about this proposition; especially that it appeared a week after their escape from their home village. But then his older brother he obeyed so much looked at him, his eyes full of anticipation. Obviously, his brother seemed to be interested and he knew he would not take 'no' as an answer. He sighed inwardly, "I don't really want anything, except maybe, I just want to have something to do for the rest of my life."_

"_I'm pretty sure you can get it all here. Sasori could upgrade his puppets more times than he could in his village." Orochimaru said with a thin smile, glancing cunningly to his partner._

_Ryouken cackled and grabbed his younger brother's arm with enthusiasm. "C'mon, Yauji! Who knows, there might be interesting things in Akatsuki!"_

"_Aniki…" Yauji nodded._

**|-oOo-|**

_Apparently, Yauji and Ryouken weren't the only ones to be recruited to Akatsuki. When they entered the leader's office, there was a young man, much younger than the brothers, with blue skin and a face like they had never seen before. A gigantic object strapped behind his back. Despite being only nineteen years old (Ryouken asked his age, just to fulfill his curiosity), but the young man's height far exceeded them both. They learned the name of that young man to be Kisame Hoshigaki, a rogue ninja from the neighbor of the brother's village, Kirigakure. That large object happened to be a sword, from what they heard._

_They were given a ring and were introduced to their partners. Ryouken got to be with Kisame while Yauji was assigned with a more senior member. Yauji couldn't believe his eyes when he first saw his partner. He has a dark skin, but its hue was lighter than his or his brother's. The most memorable feature of him was his black mask and the white headgear covering his head. However, Yauji felt something amiss from this person. He didn't know why, but he didn't seem to be delighted to get him as a partner._

"_You better don't mess up, kid." he said with his husky bass voice when they first met. His deep voice emphasized his already cold attitude. But he didn't know why; Yauji just felt another meaning of leadership from him._

**|-oOo-|**

_One year and three months later. Yauji and Kakuzu were fighting against a small group of thugs, self-proclaiming as anti-Pein and pro-Hanzo. Kakuzu and Yauji were the only ones available at the moment. What they did not know was that one of the thug people was quite strong, even for Kakuzu. It was a dilemmatic time; Kakuzu felt he did not need to use his back masks' powers, but if he didn't…_

_For the last one year and three months, Kakuzu learned more about this new partner of his. He treated the masked ninja like a king. At one point, he felt a little disturbed because of Yauji's constant over-politeness towards him. But on the other hand, he never actually nagged him and he always did his best, even sometimes overwhelmed his body. He was one of those non-annoying partner he ever had. He was also one of his partners to whom he could converse about things that were personal. He thought he would have no need to kill him as long as he did what he told him._

_But Kakuzu was wrong._

_Like his brother, Yauji was equipped with animalistic body weapon. If Ryouken has claws, Yauji has horns on his forehead and elbows. The opponent was a giant; maybe twice the size as Kisame which was the biggest member of the organization. He had successfully made Kakuzu and Yauji as ping-pong balls for several times earlier, causing hemorrhages to their head. For a moment there, the duo seemed to be whitewashed._

_The giant stomped his way to Kakuzu who he assumed as the brain in the duo; he was correct. Before he arrived to clutch the masked man on his much smaller neck, two super-boney horns protruded from his chest. The source was right behind him, standing two-and-a-half feet shorter. Yauji's horns successfully penetrated the giant's flesh after many untouched attempts. The giant tried to swing him off, but Yauji's horns were in too deep and its bending feature acted like a hook. That swinging also caused stress to his skin and muscle tissues that they started to rip, therefore causing severe bleeding. The immense lost of fluid also made the giant weak and wobbly. He got fatigued easily, opening a wide chance to kill him off for the duo._

"_Kakuzu-sama…" Yauji said as Kakuzu readied himself for the kill. "Do your best shot! We can't let him live. Pierce him right through him!"_

_Kakuzu did not hesitate to kill his opponent, but one thing was on the way. "I might kill you. You should let him go, Yauji!"_

"_What are you doing thinking about me? Just go and kill this guy, will you?" Yauji shouted, tightening his grip on the giant's massive blubber._

_Kakuzu grunted, his teeth gritted behind his mask, and with no further ado, formed a series of hand seal. A blue-lined mask appeared from his back and its mouth glowing with light. It aimed itself at the giant's center of the body. Behind the giant, Kakuzu knew Yauji was still keeping his grip. "Damn it, kid!" he swore and shot his long-ranged jutsu, coming from one of his masks._

_At a fifteen feet distance, nobody would survive that attack, even when they have kilos and kilos of fleshy shield. The giant collapsed affront, the horned ninja still stuck to his back and his fate was not so different to the bigger man. Kakuzu approached his dead partner, his eyes shadowed. He had killed his partners before, but never had he felt this heavy on the chest. With his bare, uncongealed hand, he chopped Yauji's horns and took his already breathless partner to his arms. _

_But then he heard him cough. Apparently, Yauji still had some breaths left. Kakuzu shook his shoulder a little, calling his name in mutters. "Yauji, hey…"_

"_Kakuzu-sama…" Yauji struggled to speak. "Please…"_

_Kakuzu knew his young partner wanted to say a last message to him so he nodded to him and let him continue. "Don't…tell…my brother…" There was more to it, but his voice began to lose and Kakuzu had to shut all of his sensory except his ears to hear him better. With a little breath left, Yauji spoke in a very low voice. Kakuzu secretly bit his lip as he heard bits and bits of his last message until he heard no more coming from the bull-horned criminal._

_That was when he heard: "Yauji! NO!"_

**|-oOo-|**

"…insane he may be, but that 'idiot' still has some sense of humanity in him. After that, Ryouken was made into my partner and Kisame got to work with Erai, despite that Erai was supposed to be solo like Zetsu because of his unique powers. However, things didn't go up quite smoothly." Feeling that he had had enough resting, Kakuzu stood and walked back to where he and his team set up their camp. Hokko quickly followed, still so eagerly listening to Kakuzu's story.

"What happened?" he asked, just to remind Kakuzu that he still hadn't finish the story.

"Ryouken insisted I killed his brother on purpose and he wouldn't want to work with me. It was a hard time, for the both of us. Pein-sama persisted that he and I should be partners and that his order wasn't going to change. So we have no choice but obeyed; but there was so much tension between us. I don't usually care with tension, but for some reason, that one was different. My mind had never been that unclear. That was why I asked Pein-sama to relieve me from duty for some time. I said it's the best for both Ryouken's sanity and mine. He let me go and I ventured the world alone, mostly collecting bounties. And in that duty-relieve did I stumble across this little pick-pocket. Now she's living with me."

"When did he start to develop his 'goofy' self?" Hokko asked again.

"Actually, he had that 'goofy' self from the very beginning. That goofy side of him was his true self before Yauji was killed. He then used it to cover up his anger at me, after he told me that he had forgiven me, so that he could work more efficiently." Kakuzu sighed. "He used to playfully circle his arm around me in a friendly manner. Not until I know how much he hated, I never realized he must have been holding this urge to snap my neck with that arm."

It was silence afterwards. The two elderly yet young-looking men did not speak for the next few yards. Each was drowned in their thoughts and contemplations. The younger of the partners lit his favorite cigar and blew the white-grey smoke in a ring form. He watched the smoke mixed with the clear air and disappeared with the winds. The long silence then just shattered. "Why do you have so many interesting stories more than I do?"

Kakuzu glanced to his partner. The glint on his eyes was unreadable. He seemed smiling, or scowling, or exasperated—obviously not angry. Hokko couldn't catch it and he didn't have to, because a powerful _WHOOSH!_ distracted the two men.

"Nagayoshi!" Kakuzu shouted and dashed towards the spot where he last left his sister with Konan.

"Aw, man!" Hokko groaned and ran after his partner.

**|-oOo-|**

Konan roared as she sent a hefty whip of heavy paper towards the amphibian-masked ninja that sneaked up to her and Nagayoshi. She assumed that ninja could be a spy, sent by the nearest camp which was the camp Kakuzu and Hokko were destroying. Since Nagayoshi was practically powerless, she was the one to get to fight. Konan was actually quite a pacifist, but being a warrior, she knew when and where she must throw that predicate away. This was the time.

This was also the first time for Nagayoshi to witness Konan fight against an enemy. She was mesmerized by her speed and dispersion illusion technique. Konan was capable of dispersing herself into million sheets of paper and the speed needed to do the task was as fast as Nagayoshi's _Shippuujinrai Shunshin_. The enemy was fast too. It dodged every Konan's attacks and would attack the only woman member of Akatsuki with custom-made kunais with explosive tags. Fortunately, Konan's papers were strong enough to hold back the fire, though not really with the heat.

Then the mysterious masked ninja threw three instead of one and Konan had to increase the thickness of her paper barrier. She shut her eyes from the flying dust of the explosion. Once the shockwave ceased, she carefully started to peel the paper shield leaf by leaf. The papers flew back to her skin and the barrier's size shrunk gradually until it only covered her body. Her face appeared to enemy's line of vision and to her surprise, the enemy was already in front of her face.

_BAM!_

The enemy rocketed to the direction it had come from. Konan was again surprised, seeing that the heavily injured girl could move to her position from her resting point a few meters behind her. Moreover, fast enough to save her using the androgyny's trusty elbow smash amplified tenfold. She fell to her knees, clutching her lower torso where the great pain lied. Konan knew she couldn't let the young girl's sacrifice go for nothing.

Swiftly she dispersed and soared towards the enemy. Hundreds of paper blanketed the spy like a spider cocooning its prey. Konan's face and half of her upper body appeared within the swarm of papers, her golden eyes stared icily at her victim. Another hundreds of paper hovered beside and in front of her, their sharp edges pointing at the cocoon. A rapid flutter of processed wood took place as Konan finished a short set of hand seals. As the cocoon opened starting for the head, the sharp papers zapped and stabbed the spy here and there. If only Konan was as brutal as her male comrades, she would have mutilated that person.

"Nagayoshi!" Kakuzu's voice shouted.

"Konan-san!" his partner's voice came afterward.

Konan remembered about the girl and quickly flew back to her kneeling position. Kakuzu arrived first and he had his arm around her shoulders already. She knelt beside the girl. "That was a reckless thing you did back there."

In between the pant, came a short laugh. "You'll lose your pretty face if I didn't come on time." Nagayoshi replied weakly.

"Can you stand?" Kakuzu asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I can." Nagayoshi said. She bent one leg and straightened the other one slowly. She used Kakuzu's muscular arms to help her up. She finally got up on her two feet, but the legs wobbled and she collapsed again. Luckily, Kakuzu's arms were there to catch her.

"Konan's right; you're reckless." Kakuzu remarked wryly.

Nagayoshi chuckled as her brother's arms lifted her up from the ground. "Heh, I point my finger to you, 'Niisan."

"Come." said Konan. "We should head back to the base. We'll use secret passage number 5."

Hokko looked to Kakuzu. The adoptive siblings stared back at him. "The passages are numbered?"

* * *

**I made this chapter before I get to read Naruto chapters 505-current. So…sorry if some of the ages are screwed. It's obvious now that Kisame wasn't yet a member of Akatsuki at the age of 19. But…just think of this as ¼ AU. I am following the original story-line, but with Nagayoshi in it, it has become an alternate timeline for Naruto. And I just remembered that Hokko's age is 70—and he has a crush on Konan! DX**

**It's been a long time since I last used that flashback mode. And again, I like to explore more of Kakuzu's soft side. If there are any of you who think that this chapter is a little boring, I agree with you. Bad news though, I think the next chapter will be one boring chapter too. *sniffles***

**Damn plot gaps! I'll try to make a fight scene to the break the ice…**

_Next: The most busy duo in the war still has to go from troops to troops as they execute their duty. But in amidst of the battle, one strong emotion breaks out completely from Erai's shell.  
_


	35. The Voice of Enmity

**Chapter 34: The Voice of Enmity**

* * *

The dark-skinned man trod under the woods' shade as he ventured towards a place where people gathered fifty miles from where he was at the time. His eyes focused on the road he traveled, but his ears were keeping track on something or someone following him from behind. He felt stalked and he knew exactly who did such stalking. He stopped walking. The stalker did not; at least, not until he was only a yard away from the man.

"Stop following me, Orochimaru." Ryouken warned, starting to get irritated. He turned briskly to confront his so-called friend and glared at him. The pale man, however, just stood with his arms casually crossed in front of his chest and smirked with that iconic devious smirk of his.

"You don't look so good, old friend." Orochimaru said coolly, easily disregarding Ryouken's irritated warning.

"I was beaten—again—by that elderly bastard! Happy?" Ryouken snapped at his old friend. "But I'm not finished taking my revenge."

"I'm afraid you'll have to go back with me, Ryouken." Orochimaru replied. "You can't do anything right now. Let us go back and watch the Akatsuki struggle through this mess. I'm taking over from now on."

Orochimaru dodged his head to the side while the rest of his body remained immobile. A very thin inch of his face didn't survive Ryouken's light-speed claw attack, but even that didn't faze him much. His smug smirk vanished the moment he attacked him. He shifted his eyes slowly from the furry arm of Ryouken and down to the owner's face. There were copious of crinkles on the Hyena Man's nose bridge, his eyes dilated and fiery.

"You're never a man of his words. I know that, and that's why I decided to go solo after I got washed out by Kakuzu. There is a war going on and I'm going to use it to defeat him! If this should make you happy, I'll do your part too. I'll _kill_ all of the Akatsuki until nothing is left of them!" he growled at the long-haired male. A few droplets of his saliva dropped to Orochimaru's chin.

"I admire your passion, Ryouken." Orochimaru replied. He returned his head to its normal position as Ryouken's clawed arm was removed. He wiped the tiny wound with his hand, watching his old friend walked away sourly.

"Talk all you like. I'm on my own. You can make your own army or whatever you want with those kinjutsu craps of yours!" Ryouken uncaringly said, flailing an arm to the air. "I'm not letting my brother's death unpaid…"

Orochimaru said nothing more; he just watched the Hyena Man strode slowly to wherever he was heading to. His smirk returned with just a tug on one of his facial muscle. He chuckled silently to himself. "It's still a failed product, but I can leave it alive for a while."

Then the snake man made his way back. He had placed a bet on either of the warring sides.

**|-oOo-|**

It was the seventeenth mint candy Erai just ate 0.1 seconds ago. He felt tortured for the last eight months. He never had to use the powers of his voice in such an epic scale for many consecutive days and weeks. It may be a disease that granted him his powers, but luckily for him, it had no serious side effects; only itchy and unbearable sore throat that needed gallons and gallons of mint ice cream to ease with. He wished he could just sit for at least a couple of hours in his beloved ice cream shop and buy as many ice cream (not necessarily mint flavor, but that was the best cure) as his wallet can afford him. Unfortunately, being one of the most destructive members in Akatsuki didn't let him have that time.

He was on the road again, towards the closest moving small troop of the Salamander Army. _Oh, great…_ he said in his mind, when he first heard that the Salamander Army made a plan to divide each of their battalions and make into smaller but more plentiful troops. With that many armada moving at once, they assumed it would trouble the Akatsuki (who only has TWO moving armadas consisting of TWO people each). Well, they were right. _They know just how to make one's life miserable._

And the smiley Erai had never looked so pouty. Obviously, he was damning all those Hanzo's soldiers to hell. One of the reasons as of why he kept on persevering was because he hated them so much that he wanted to see them die with his own eyes. So much for the kind and pacifist Erai. Well, everybody has to have a limit to be broken by someone else.

He should be thankful to have Kisame assigned as his temporary partner. Pain knew that for this kind of scenario, Erai cannot go solo. No matter how powerful he was, one against hundreds was still suicidal and stupid. Since Kakuzu—another most destructive member—was away, he commanded Kisame to aid the little man. Pain wasn't wrong putting them in one team.

The tallest man in Akatsuki treated the shortest man in Akatsuki like his own baby brother, despite that the 'baby brother' was only two years younger. Walking in front, the blue swordsman watched over his back from time to time. He was a little worried. He didn't expect Erai to smile all their way to each troops, but he just didn't like Erai's bitterness. It wasn't like the Erai he knew. And despite being in front, Kisame was actually the follower. He always was, even with Itachi.

It had been hours since they last vanquished a small division of the Army and getting Kakuzu's emergency call. They were heading to the coordinates Zetsu gave them privately. At that time, they minds spoke as one. They were both tired of fighting immense group of people; they both missed the civilization; they both could use a little holiday; they were both fretful of their young friend Nagayoshi's condition. They heard she got hurt pretty bad, and being her closest friends only made that feeling stronger each time the seconds passed.

Night fell and they have not yet reached the designated troop. Kisame proposed a night's rest which Erai immediately agreed on, as seen from his vigorous nodding. Erai set up the campfire while Kisame collected some 'wild' food. With his water technique, Kisame created a small oasis for him to refill his and Erai's bull skin water bag. Erai gave him a gratified smile and drank up. They just sat in front of the campfire, mouths sealed and eyes watched either the wild fowls roasting or the flames dancing. Usually, Kisame would make small chats about something he knew about other members and Erai would listen and gave a gleeful smile in replacement of laughing when he heard something funny. Tonight…it was all silent. Kisame didn't know what to talk about and Erai didn't know what to hear other than owls and crickets.

Being a rather chatty person, Kisame eventually broke the silence with something his mind just randomly landed a thought on. "Do you think we still get Christmas break?" he asked. His smallish eyes gazed blankly at the half-cooked wild fowl.

Erai shrugged lazily.

"It's been a long time since we all settle on the base, free of big problems and all. I guess it's something that lasts for a very short time for guys like us." he continued, carefully turning the stick on which the fowl was dangling on.

Erai put down his water bag and with his hands, he spoke his language. Kisame raised his head to see what he was trying to say. He chuckled a little.

"Yeah, you're right. We're all responsible for being who we are." Kisame left the fowl to cook itself and leaned against a tree, staring straight to Erai. "Not that I hate my position now, but I'm wondering how my life would become if I never defected."

There was a pause and an absence of a friendly smile from Erai. Shortly, Erai began to speak his custom language again. Kisame watched his hands moved and making symbols not available in the traditional jutsu-forming hand seals. However, a chuckle or a smile didn't come from the blue-skinned man. Instead, there was a slight frown. What Erai had said made Kisame retrieved his idea of having an alternative life.

"You're right, Erai." Kisame hushedly replied. "We would never meet."

**|-oOo-|**

The sun breathed her fire more intensely this afternoon. It created an extension to the day. Kisame and Erai might have to work extra longer today; the middle of summer was taking its toll. They tried not to be baked under the intense heat of the sunlight so they kept treading under the woods' shades. It also helped them to cover up their scent from ninjas with sensitive nose. Walking on plains will let the wind to deliver their body scent through the air.

Speaking of scent, both Akatsuki members could smell the pungent odor of campfire from a few hundred meters ahead. They knew they were steps from a troop of Salamander Army. It was a cue for Erai to savour the cooling effects of the mint candy he was chewing at the moment. He nodded to Kisame who nodded back.

Their pace sped up. They were eager to finish things up so that they could return to their normal life—whatever normal was like to them. Near the border of the camp, the two split into two directions. From fast-walking, they went off into sprinting. They sprinted until they were standing on two ends of the camp, facing each other from afar. Kisame unsheathed his sword, but he was not yet to attack. He waited.

On the opposite side, Erai held his hands together in forming of a hand symbol and held it that way as he accumulated his chakra and mixing it with those causing his disability to speak properly. It took more or less a minute but once it was done collecting and mixing, it was ready to destroy. Erai took a very deep breath from his nose, filling his lungs with air crucial for his catastrophic jutsu to work. He released the breath alongside with a powerful sound wave that crumbled the rocks and soils in front of him. Soon, it became a sonic typhoon, throwing people off at the same time making their eardrums bleed profusely.

Kisame could hear the combination of ringing and roaring echoed through the dry air. He was in a safe distance, but the supersonic wave residues bothered his ears nonetheless. Now it was Kisame's turn to form a series of hand seals. Water gushed out from his mouth, making a small lake just for him to use. It flooded across the camp, washing people away. Some managed to surface, while most of the unfortunates drown. However, that didn't mean those who reached the surface were lucky. Truth be told, they were much more unfortunate. Who wants to be gnashed and ripped off by Samehada?

Kisame dashed from one flood survivor to the other, quickly ripping their flesh off their neck or chest with his gigantic sword. He actually preferred torturing his victim with slow mutilation and watching them die of blood loss. However, that was not an option ever since eight months ago. He couldn't remember the last time he went to war. Kirigakure, despite of the nickname, was a country that hardly waged war with other nations. There were some quarrels over land possession with Land of Lightning, but most of it ended with a peaceful treaty. He had never been in a war where he and his comrades had to completely kill every single person in enemy's line. Pain told his men not to take prisoners. He told him, Erai, Kakuzu, and Hokko not to perform any kind of interrogation. It was Sasori and Itachi's job. He was only told to kill.

And he did—as merciless and as heartless as always.

He ducked, narrowly missing a flying giant shuriken. He tapped his hand on the body of water he created a few minutes ago and a giant shark made of water devoured the attacker ninja. He sensed other presences and swiftly blocked their attacks. He swerved his sword; the hilt unsuspectingly undulated and flexed, making long-distant attacks possible while Kisame ruptured another ninja's nose and cheek bones with his elbow.

Erai could hear the feral war cry made by his tall blue-skinned friend. He knew it was the time for some close-ranged action. Not quite of his type of fighting.

His lightweight body combined with ninja speed, he dashed like a cheetah running towards a savannah of antelopes. He projected a burst of powerful sound waves as he ran, trying only to knock those who were around the radius of five to ten meters. Then, using his skilled arms and hands, he used a simple kunai to end the lives of his enemies. A deep slit on the throat should do a quick instant death; that or stabbing it straight to the brain or heart.

Since he was fighting in a small army camp, it did not take long for him to finish his opponents and reunite with his partner in the middle of the battle. He could see Kisame swinging and slamming his gigantic bioorganic sword, crushing and flattening his enemies. Samehada was also no longer wrapped in bandages. Erai knew the sword had eaten many of the ninjas' chakras. Sometimes he envied the blue swordsman. He never has to get tired as long as his opponents have enough chakra to replenish his used ones. He could really use that; making supersonic destructive sounds can be more tiring than anything else in the world.

Despite encompassed by the clashing of weapons and people's agonized shout, Erai heard a small, almost faint, familiar sneer. His nerves tighten as his heart jumped hearing that subdual sneer somewhere outside the army camp. He looked around him and then his body stopped moving, eyes dilating in a mixture of shock and awakened anger. For the next few seconds, he forgot his duties to fight.

The ex-member of Akatsuki was standing on the camp's entrance with his loyal servant Kabuto, watching the two Akatsuki members fight against the many soldiers of Hanzo's Salamander Army. He didn't hide his excitement and chuckled at them. He stared straight to Erai's emotional eyes and just smirked deviously at him. But Orochimaru had to admit though: he had never seen Erai so furious.

"Erai, get down!" Kisame shouted.

Spontaneously, the dwarf ninja ducked, survived from the attack of chained sickle as Kisame's animalistic weapon smashed against the attacker's body. Having Kisame near him, Erai quickly ran towards Orochimaru. The blue swordsman didn't expect his departure.

"Erai! Where are you going? Hey!" Kisame shouted at him. He would like to catch up after him, but then business wasn't over yet. He gritted his teeth. "Dammit." he ranted as his hands rapidly formed hand seals.

Meanwhile, seeing Erai running towards them, Orochimaru and Kabuto fled. They knew Erai was on their tails, chasing them like a hungry predator. Erai caught up with them, but they were still meters in front of him. So his small hands began to form seals and his chakra accumulated and mixed the chakra that blocked his throat. He screamed it out as one directional high-pitched sound wave that only hit Orochimaru on the back. Kabuto was unharmed, but he could hear the sound vibrating as the jutsu passed beside him.

"Orochimaru-sama!" He braced a kunai, ready to fight hand-to-hand against the dwarf ninja. However, said dwarf ninja had no business with him.

He just ran straight at his true opponent and when Kabuto stood in front of him, with closed mouth, Erai sent infrasound around him. Kabuto was in the unheard noise's reach and the effect began to take place. The world seemed like it was riding on a carousel. Trees gave off funny colors and his legs felt like they were made of plastic bags. Kabuto fell to his knees, nauseous.

Orochimaru was about to stand after being attacked so rudely from behind but then his senses failed him. He knew what caused this; he felt it before. Before he could conclude his thoughts, a small yet powerful hand gripped the collar of his clothes and slammed him mercilessly against a tree. The other hand met his face just as mercilessly.

Erai hated this: whenever he was punched or kicked, Orochimaru never seemed to show any signs of pain and he never seemed to bleed either. It was like his face was made of rubber. And one more thing: he always found a way to flash his impish smirk. His laughter only feed his fire of hatred bigger.

"Erai-kun…" he chuckled after the seventh square punch to his left cheek was given. "I've never seen you this angry before, little one. Why? I never knew you would be _this _loyal to Akatsuki."

_It was never about Akatsuki_, Erai growled in his mind but he didn't say it with his hand language.

"Oh, I know…" Orochimaru added. Erai postponed his upcoming punch. "So you've heard about my experiment, huh? Then Zetsu must have told you what I did while you were gone." The snake chuckled again. "Too bad it wasn't a successful one. He could be a valuable outcome, don't you think? Your—" He was stopped by the punch.

Never had Erai panted before. His hard inhales and exhales created brief and simultaneous gushes of wind. Even Orochimaru's hair flailed at every exhale. It was also a rare sight to see; Erai for the first time in his life actually held a thick killing intent. Orochimaru could feel his raging emotions through the gradually tightening grip of the dwarf ninja's small hand and the bloodshot eyes he aimed. The snake man even swore that he could still feel it even if he was standing meters away from him. The sight was very rare for him to see that Orochimaru couldn't bring himself to cower before the dwarf ninja. Instead, he continued chuckling, much to Erai's aggravation.

"Go on. What are you waiting for, Erai-kun? Finish me off. That's what you want, right?" he hissed deviously.

Those bloodshot eyes consolidated, unhesitant to kill. Erai breathed deeply; he was about to blow his voice up and at zero distance, no human could survive this. It was like a bomb exploding right before your face minus the fire.

Just as he was about to shout out right in front of Orochimaru's face, the snake that always did its usual surprise attack shot out of Orochimaru's mouth. The snake's upper fangs almost hooked themselves on Erai's eyebrows if the dwarf ninja didn't hop away on time. Erai was cursing in his mind. He was going to lose his chance to kill this man once and for all. His ambitious mental gave him the needed adrenaline to quickly jump off and ran after the deceitful snake-summoning Sennin.

Biting his skin off so it bled, Orochimaru hurriedly tapped his hand to the ground. What Erai undesired the most happened; Orochimaru called for his summons to buy him escape time. And since it was Orochimaru, there won't be just one or two summons. There will be a colony of summons. Erai had no time to play as a scampering rat fought over by starving snakes. His hands rapidly formed seals and he once again breathed deeply. Before the snakes got the chance to slither towards him, he yelled a devastating sound wave that shook the air and earth at the same time.

The snakes were flung off by the incredible force of Erai's voice. They were not yet dead, but they were unconscious, giving Erai enough time to pursue the Akatsuki traitor and finish what he failed to finish. However, fate betrayed him. Again.

Orochimaru was nowhere to be sensed.

Erai desperately ran around the forest, looking for a tall man with long black hair and freakishly pale skin running with a white-haired teenager behind him. However, as he searched for leagues and leagues, he didn't found them. They must have used some secret jutsu or even secret getaway passage. Whichever method they used caused Erai to finally drop to his knees, gritted his teeth, and screamed in ire.

It was uncontrolled, unmeasured, and most of all emotional. Without the proper seals which act as a filter for his powers, his voice's raw power spread like wildfire, both in speed and damage. Trees growing in twenty meters radius fell off and grasses around him flew away, detached from Mother Earth. The demolition effect may only affect objects two to three hundred meters around him, but his sound wave and the zephyr caused by it will travel longer through the woods.

Erai screamed uncontrollably for a good eight seconds before he was finally out of breath. However, in those eight seconds, he had felled countless of trees, ruptured several boulders, and flattened myriads of grasses. He covered his mouth, given that he had broken an old promise he made to never use his powers without proper emotion control. He tried to stabilize his breathing, knowing that any sound or air coming out of his mouth and nostrils might result in an unwanted damage.

A warm large hand caressed one of his shoulders. "Calm down, Erai." Kisame murmured. "We'll get him someday. We will…"

**|-oOo-|**

The wind was a free element. It explored everywhere it likes; to wide spaces and to small spaces. It practically can go everywhere, except maybe space where air has no existence. The wind was also one of the world's fastest messengers. However, it carried only specific things. Sound and voice were two of them. It didn't care either who received its message.

"That was Erai's jutsu." a gentle male voice spoke, mostly to himself. "The same thing happened too two months ago, right? Kisame said Erai encountered Orochimaru." he continued. "From the looks of it, Erai seemed pretty pissed off. Now I wonder what happened just now."

"**They seem to be in a trouble." **a heavier male voice replied. He sighed, **"Too bad we can't go and watch them fight. It's gonna be hell of a fun."**

"At least we get to eat what's left."

"**Right."**

Both sides of Zetsu continued their job of espionage. They watched over Kakuzu and Hokko's target, Hanzo's third child and second son, Kama. The old men duo was supposed to reach his camp the same day they met Ryouken. Due to the incident, they unintentionally left a flashy sign of their existence to the nearby camp and that caused Kama, who was in that camp they destroyed the day after, to urgently move out of the camp. Zetsu—a professional locator was he—already found his new hiding place. It was poorly inhabited with soldiers. He could guess why; he didn't have to be a genius like Sasori or Itachi. They were probably waiting for back-ups from Kama's older siblings.

Things began to change much drastically from what they had expected when soldiers began to yell and shout, mostly in pain. The man of two colors grew suspicious. Their body emerged out of the tree trunk they had been hiding in as utter surprise kicked inside their veins. The soldiers seemed to be flying. Actually, they were more of being flung away by someone or something stronger than them. Zetsu moved in slightly closer to the view, but still making themselves invisible from possible tracker ninjas living in the camp. Both sides dilated their eyes in shock.

"Could that be…" the white side stammered in disbelief.

"**No doubt about it. It's Ryouken."** the black side finished the white side's cut sentence. The two sides silenced and the absence of their voice enabled them to hear the maniacal laughter of said Hyena Man. **"See?"**

"What should we do now? Should we tell Pain-sama that Ryouken just give Kama a visit?" asked the white side.

"**No, don't. Let's see what he has in mind. We tell Pain-sama once we have all information. We're going in now."**

Working as a spy for years, Zetsu knew perfectly what to do and what should not when eavesdropping on his enemies. One thing for sure, he must not let his presence visible by any means possible. Being a spy also needed a huge amount of patience. He had it carved in his nerves ever since he was born, thus staying still for over four hours was nothing for the double-personality half-plant man.

Every wise man knows that a sacrifice of patience will somehow pay off. Zetsu was one of the rare people to actually experience it over and over again.

* * *

**Okay, guyz! Short time-skip ahead! I just don't have any plot gap fillers anymore that I decided to pull the next plot over. It's still about Akatsuki vs. Salamander Army, though. The enemies aren't even killed yet! Anyway, I can't possibly continue to write Bird Cloth without its main character, can I? We'll move on where her wounds have healed.**

**So…how was the chapter? Good? Bad? Boring? Review button is just a lowered stare away.**

_Next: Something dubious is going on with the Army. Akatsuki has no clue why._


	36. Fall Back

**Chapter 35: Fall Back

* * *

**

No matter how much he wanted to put a poker face on, Itachi had to admit that watching over a central headquarters of the Salamander Army could be quite boring. He had been months performing this duty. He might have died of boredom if he had no help from Akatsuki's non-member spies. Just like the Army, Itachi also had a base camp where he settled as he monitored the movements of Mizuka's (Hanzo's daughter) platoon.

Itachi's temporary partner; a spy named Akinamaru, happened to be a merchant who regularly sells his goods and bare necessities to the soldiers in the headquarters. He was requested by Mizuka herself to bring them general needs like rice every week and he will be paid heftily. So far, he was as happy as a clam opening its mouth.

The same deal also took place with Akatsuki. Akinamaru shall be paid heftily as long as he gave Akatsuki—in this case, Itachi—the information needed so that the Uchiha prodigy can calculate the possible outcome to anything the Salamander Army did. Plus, Pain also promised him a bonus if Akatsuki gets to win the war. Now what kind of merchant who won't accept that offer?

It was the middle of September and the sun was starting to lose its scorching heat. With a last stick of dango in his hand, Itachi observed the map, notes, and timelines stacking in front of him. He had played thousands of scenarios that the Army would make according the information provided by the merchant spy. He also had thought of the actions Akatsuki should make in amazing details. Itachi was accustomed with hard thinking, but then doing it for approximately ten months tired him out. Moreover, he didn't do much action. If only his heart has a mouth, it would have spoken out its wants on working with his regular partner again. He didn't mind getting sent to different places; at least he got to have a little exercise.

From afar, he could hear the familiar hurried footsteps of Akinamaru coming towards the hut where they temporarily stayed. Akinamaru always walked in a hurry, whether he realized it or not. Identifying him with two ears alone was not a hard job to do. However, his hurried steps sounded more than just simply hurried. He sounded like running.

"Uchiha-sama!" he exclaimed. His voice was too loud to be projected inside a forty-nine square meters hut. Itachi had to wince slightly to endure the voice.

"Anything good?" he asked lazily.

"I, uh, I'm not sure if I can say this good but…oh hell."

"Get to the point, Akinamaru-san."

"I heard this from Mizuka herself. I mean, she literally screamed it aloud. She—I mean they…they're retreating, Uchiha-sama." Through panting stammers, Akinamaru finally said it. And as if he had just heard his name being called by his dead father, Itachi turned around, eyes gawping.

"Retreating?" he asked again, unsure if his ears were catching the right word.

"Yes, sir. They're retreating and I was sent out since they were going to move soon." Akinamaru said as he took a seat against a nearby wall and took a breather.

Itachi now fully had turned his body around, facing Akinamaru. His eyes were straight and sharp. "Tell me more. Tell me everything you have heard."

"They got orders from Kama, telling them to retreat. The reason is unstated; Mizuka's face seemed to be confused as well. She was just following what her brother told her to. And that is all that I heard. What I know is by now they should have packed most of their belongings and have started to move back." Akinamaru explained after taking a brief time-out by taking a big gulp of water.

Itachi gave no comments. This circumstance was too unexpected. What could have happened? Did Akatsuki get a 'help' from an unknown someone? Did either of Hanzo's two boys die somehow? Did Kama decided to retreat because he found no point of taking over Amegakure anymore? What—what could have happened?

"You're a trustworthy informant, Akinamaru-san." Itachi said after minutes of long cold silence. He got up to his feet, grabbing his red-clouded cloak with him. "But for once, I want to see it with my own eyes." he added.

**|-oOo-|**

"Are you sure you weren't tricked by a Genjutsu, Itachi?" Pain asked, trying to convince his fully-pierced ears that he did not just hear that—

"Mizuka's troops were leaving, that is true." Itachi reconfirmed, probably the third or the fourth time in this meeting session. "If it was a Genjutsu, I would have realized it by the time I see it. Trust me, Pain-sama; I found it hard to digest either."

Konan looked to her male partner. For a glimpse, he seemed like he showed nothing but plain look he always give to his men. But nothing about Pain can trick Konan's eyes from seeing the truth. Even through holographic display, Konan could spot Pain's uneasiness as easy as looking at her own fingernails. She observed his purple circular eyes and from them she saw Pain's struggle in trying to discover the true reason behind his enemies' retreat.

"They're retreatin', so what? Shouldn't we all be celebratin' or somethin'?" asked Hokko innocently.

"You moron, that means they're up to something!" Kakuzu growled at the ninja with a cowboy hat.

"Chill out, man! I was just trying to break the ice!" Hokko defended.

"The only thing to break is your thick hairless head."

"Hey, enough with my head! You've been abusing it ever since you broke my first guitar!"

"Would you two quit it?" Pain scolded the 'Old Men Club'—as how Kisame called them. He sighed; that one needed not Konan's micro-expression reading expertise. "This is a serious matter and we don't need incessant arguments from you two. I demand no ramblings until all of us are gathered."

A hologram appeared. Its towering height and spiky hair was easily recognizable. "Sorry for responding late, Leader-sama. I…got a little trouble finding a nice quiet place around here." Kisame reported in.

"Where's the mini-man?" Hokko asked, noticing that Kisame came to the meeting alone.

"He, uh, he's down. I don't mean he's dead but he's unconscious. He got a little careless and a soldier knocked him out. Well, the little guy's not in a good shape, anyways. I told you guys every week that he's getting less and less effective during combats." Kisame answered.

"So the ice cream IS crucial." Hokko remarked.

"That's alright, Kisame. I'm glad you manage to join. I might have to ask you to inform Erai about we're discussing today."

"No problem. Say…it's a little quiet around here, isn't it? Where's Zetsu? Isn't he the one to always arrive early?"

"Sorry. **We're here.**" both of Zetsu's sides' voice spoke as their hologram showed up on Pain's far right.

"Ah! Speaking of the devils!" Kisame exclaimed.

Sasori was the last to come. No words were spoken from his mouth as he arrived, however his mind was questioning the absence of the smallest member of Akatsuki. He didn't get the chance to ask as Pain had started the conference.

"Zetsu, you were the one who demanded me to gather up all of our members. Now that we're all here, feel free to tell us." the leader gave room and time for the bipolar to speak.

Black Zetsu was the one to speak as his white side went off to watch over the perimeter. That was how Zetsu usually work. **"First of all I have to ask Itachi and Sasori: do Mizuka and Hamaki's troops withdraw?"**

"They do." both addressees answered.

The eye of the black side of Zetsu slanted. **"Then whatever it is he's planning, it looks like it's starting to work."**

"Who's planning?" Sasori asked, one eye squinted.

"Ryouken." Kakuzu said unexpectedly. "It's him, am I right?"

Zetsu's head moved up and down, confirming Kakuzu's guess. **"You're right. It seems like you know everything that concerns him."**

"That's what happens when you interact with him for too long."

"Anyway, what is with Ryouken and Kama?" Pain asked, also to remind Zetsu where he left off.

"**You all should be able to guess correctly of what they were doing. Kama had agreed to get assistance from Ryouken. He came to Kama's temporary hideout, knocked out all the guards, and negotiated with him. We went to investigate further and eavesdropped on their conversation. Only, unfortunately…"**

"Did Ryouken find you spying on them?" Pain tried to finish. One of his eyes squinted slightly, indicating his confusion.

"**I can't say exactly like that. It's just he spoke in a very secretive manner. He occasionally whispered to Kama's ears. It's obvious that he only wanted the 'Three Commanders' to hear his schemes." **Zetsu explained further on the downside of his report.

Pain looked exasperated in Konan's eyes for a moment, but then he looked straight to Zetsu again. "Very well. At least tell us what you got."

"**He's the brains behind the retreat of the Army. He told Kama to command his soldiers to pull back, as well as his older siblings' soldiers. Kama doubted him for a second, but Ryouken convinced him by saying that he could give him anything related to Akatsuki including its weakness. And then he subdued his voice and we couldn't hear a thing from him. We're sorry, Pain-sama. But he had his claws and furs activated so we couldn't get any closer." **Zetsu concluded his explanation. Then he added, **"You do remember that he could sense our presence or even smell us, don't you?"**

"I know, I do." Pain answered, nodding. "As much as I want to know more about his schemes, but due to our additional enemy's presence, it is impossible to get any further information without risking the life of our members which I need so much right now. Despite their withdrawal, we must remember that our war is not over so we will need all of your full power." Pain paused for a moment. Konan looked to his eyes, but this time she couldn't read what he could be thinking. She was eager to know, but she decided to wait.

Sasori exhaled hard. He was showing his boredom and impatience subtly. Kakuzu gambled with the young leader's decision, wondering what he would do after this. Whatever he was about to tell them to do, he was planning to get Nagayoshi out of this, especially with Ryouken joining the Salamander Army's side.

A soft sigh; all Akatsuki members that were present focused their attention on their leader with eyes full of anticipation. Then his cool deep voice spoke: "Just like our opponent, you are withdrawn from your positions and are expected to be present in the headquarters as soon as possible."

"We're…" Hokko stammered.

"…withdrawn…?" finished Kakuzu.

"I know all of you are bemused with my decision but it's for the best of us. I realize that this has a downfall, but with their soldiers drawn back, it grants you the break that you need. I understand that all of you must have been very exhausted. This is our chance to recollect our energy for the real deal. However, to keep our guard stay up, every twelve hours one of us will be watching over the secret entrance of our base and the exit of our secret passages. As you all know, all secret passages lead to the same place, therefore it shouldn't be too hard to look after. I will also get involved in the guarding, leaving Konan to fill in my position while I'm gone. The shift runs in our ring order, clockwise. The first shift shall be started by Zetsu, and then followed by Itachi twelve hours later, and so on. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir." answered all members.

"Guarding shall commence once all of you have gathered in the base. Zetsu, you are allowed to replenish your energy before you return. I might start the shift as soon as we are all present." Pain added.

"**Gotcha."**

"Good. You are dismissed."

**|-oOo-|**

"Oh my…" Nagayoshi remarked; her eyes blinked rapidly at the sight of Erai carried in Kisame's arms like a recently-married bride. The dwarf tried not to look at Nagayoshi's face as his face was burning with coals of embarrassment. Kisame just grinned and chuckled at the look of his face. "What happened?" Nagayoshi asked.

"Long story short: Chibi 1 is extremely exhausted that he can't even stand without wobbling his entire legs. Well, he should be able to rest for a whole day today and tomorrow. You're a lucky man, you know that, Erai? You got to skip your first guarding shift and Pain-sama has kindly put himself in replacement of you as well as filling in for his own shift."

The androgynous girl smiled wryly at Erai's condition. Then she turned to Kisame. "Want me to help you open the door to his room?" Nagayoshi offered.

While Erai frenetically shook his head in embarrassment, Kisame's louder voice spoke over his inexistent one. "Well, that would be great!" he replied with a big sharp-teethed grin. He followed Nagayoshi towards the dwarf ninja's room while enduring Erai's relatively weak fist pounding against his chest.

Erai handed Nagayoshi his room key and let her hand opened the knob of his door. Kisame walked in first and headed straight to Erai's bed where he lay him down on the mattress. Nagayoshi closed the door and stood nearby the bed.

"Do you need help removing your footwear, Your Majesty?" Kisame asked impishly at his small friend. Nagayoshi giggled at the way Kisame treated him.

Pouting, Erai bent his legs and opened the Velcro of his shoes with ease. He glared at Kisame, roughly shoving his footwear in front of his blue face. Chuckling lightly, Kisame took them and put them under the bed.

"Okay, okay…I was just joking, Erai! You don't have to be so bitter!" Kisame apologized, ruffling his brown hair.

Erai put his face to the opposite side, however. His face was still painted in red and the corners of his mouth were pulled by gravity towards the direction of his chin. With his unchangeable silence, the room's atmosphere froze to the point where it touched the awkward spot behind Nagayoshi's neck. She, who was giggling at first, stopped gradually, changed by a look of feeling bad. She suddenly felt bad for laughing at Erai's uncomfortable position of being treated like a spoiled prince. She was about to say something when Kisame's hand landed on top of the baby-faced young adult. Unlike Nagayoshi, Kisame was still smiling—only softer.

"We can't all be durable warriors, Erai. Even I can't live without a rest. C'mon…stop pouting. You make yourself look bad in front of the little lady." Kisame said with a foxy smirk at the end of his sentence.

Erai directed his head back to his friends. His face made an expression of a person sighing, minus the loud exhale of breath. His eyes flew straight to Nagayoshi and her condition. She was standing quite straight before him now and he couldn't see any distinct signs of pain. Possibly, her injury has healed?

Nagayoshi and Kisame saw his hands gestured in a language only Akatsuki had learned to understand. After he finished, Kisame looked to Nagayoshi too, he was as curious as Erai himself. He said, "Erai's right! We heard about Ryouken slicing your body. We never had a chance to ask about your condition from Kakuzu. He always tried to avoid that question; I don't know why."

"Oh, I've been healing, alright! I don't feel any kind of pain anymore, but then the scar hasn't completely gone yet." Nagayoshi told the two men about her large wound. She even opened her black-rimmed white tank top a little only to show off her large scar on her stomach, much to the guys' surprise. Erai was back in red again until Nagayoshi unrolled her tank top. While Erai seemed bowled over, Kisame simply extended his eyes in shock of both seeing the scar's size and Nagayoshi's direct action of showing off her scar.

"That's a big scar Ryouken gave you. I'm impressed you're still alive." Kisame remarked, no longer shocked with the previous awkward moment.

Nagayoshi grimaced and pulled a wry smile. "I have to thank Hokko-san for saving me, even sacrificing two years of his life span to stop the bleeding and rejoined a few centimeters of my skin." she explained lightheartedly.

Kisame nodded, smiling small. "Your brother got a terrific partner. He seemed to treat you as if you're his family." Kisame commented. He looked back to Erai who told him to leave him so that he could rest peacefully in his bed. With those bags under his eyes, Kisame with no further ado obliged his tiny friend and left his room with the young girl. After that, the conversation ensued.

"I guess I can relate to that." Nagayoshi continued. "You should see the fortress he lived in! It was as large as a city and it was filled with kids around my age or younger! Hokko-san took care of and loved them very deeply. Suddenly, all those stories about him murdering dozens and dozens of families are just…well, stories!"

Kisame noticed the enthusiasm the girl was radiating as she talked. The blue swordsman couldn't help but chuckle from time to time. He may not know the details of Hokko's wondrous children fortress, but he could imagine all the kids running and playing with others. They were all originated from a troubled, dysfunctional family. Families that lacked love and compassion; families that are abusive towards each member living inside. Just like…most of them in Akatsuki. Unbeknownst to Nagayoshi, a certain gloom clouded over Kisame's figure. The gloom's aura pushed Kisame to ask:

"Ever thought of living there?"

Nagayoshi, who was walking ahead of the tall man, stopped and spun on her heels to face him. Her neck craned up to meet his eyes. "I don't see why not. It's a great place. But Akatsuki isn't so bad either. I don't mind spending the rest of my life here."

A wide smile decorated Kisame's azure face once again, dusting off the inexistent dark clouds around him. "Good then! With guys like us, how could you be bored?" Kisame laughed out, patting Nagayoshi's head, a little rougher than Kakuzu's style.

"Well, look who's reuniting…" Kakuzu remarked with his cool bass voice. He and his partner's arrival were greeted delightfully by Nagayoshi who ran towards them to hug them. Kisame simply waved welcomingly.

"The 'Old Men Club' returns! Now I don't have to worry of getting bored." Kisame taunted the duo, most affecting the oldest member. At which point, Nagayoshi's facial muscles were pulled by gravity, creating a large exasperated frown on her face. Kisame may be her best friend, but he really should stop calling her brother with names. It was for both of their sakes. She never wanted to see Kisame be beheaded by an enraged Kakuzu.

Luckily, that was where Hokko come in. Before Kakuzu began to bark fiercely at the swordsman, the cowboy quickly began, "Where's Erai-kun, Kisame-san? Aren't you guys together or something?"

"The dude's fine. He's grabbing a shuteye right now, possibly for a quite a long time too. Since my guarding shift is still a couple of days away, I was planning to treat him some ice cream after he wakes up." Kisame answered warmly, easily ignoring the flying bloody daggers shooting at him coming from Kakuzu's eyes.

"Oh! Count me in!" Nagayoshi zapped her hand skywards, eager to join Kisame and Erai in their private ice cream party.

"Don't eat too much." Kakuzu told his sister. "Even though it's his money, you shouldn't be spending too much on something like ice cream."

"That's unfair! How come Erai got to spend most of his expense on ice cream?" Nagayoshi protested. Kakuzu had foreseen this so he didn't sigh.

"Erai's a voice-jutsu user. Ice cream is like a painkiller when he has sore throats after battling. It's a different case."

"It's still unfair."

"As for me…I have to waste my money buying your diapers."

Nagayoshi's fists pounded on Kakuzu's shoulder as she yelled, "I'm not a goddamn baby!"

**|-oOo-|**

"Too bad Itachi can't come with us now. He's only been back for fourteen hours but has to go on his patrolling duty already. Erai, are you sure you're up to work already? I mean…you were so weak yesterday." Nagayoshi said. She, Erai, and Kisame were launching their ice cream fest. Their other gang member, Itachi, was on duty ever since five hours ago.

Erai smiled softly and moved his hands about. _I'm alright now. All I need is a proper rest. Since me and Kisame get an almost constant work, I can't really fulfill my normal sleep time._ He gestured as he and Nagayoshi went towards a table near the window. The two sat side-by-side, while Kisame was on the counter buying them and himself a cup of ice cream (three cups for Erai.)

"Still…you two have been moving from one enemy camp to the other, almost non-stop, for almost a year! I don't think a day of full rest is going to cover all your exhaustion just like that." Nagayoshi added.

Sitting across them and handing them their ice cream, Kisame answered in Erai's place, "We've been doing this for years, kid. Once you've become a member like us, you're going to expect that kind of work given to you by Pain-sama."

"Really?" the girl exclaimed in disbelief.

Kisame grinned, but upon seeing Erai's scolding glare, he chuckled and raised his hands a little on the air. "Well…not _this_ often, at least. 10 months of constant annihilating work is a little extreme, even for Pain-sama himself. We're this busy because it's not the day-to-day go-and-kill mission; it's because it's a war."

"Oh boy…here we go…" Nagayoshi huffed, tired and sick hearing about war being unlike a street riot or something close to that. Kisame knew that and that was why he discontinued speaking about it any further. He already found another topic to distract her from recalling the boring lectures about war from her brother.

"So what are you doing while you're injured and we're not around?" Kisame asked, the ice cream spoon pinned between his sharp teeth.

Nagayoshi straightened her back and shoulders from previously being slouched. "The first few weeks are boring. I really can't go anywhere without making my wound cry. So to keep me away from whining all the time, Oniisan shoved several thick books. One is about machinery revolution, one is about atoms and molecules, and I think there's something about stock market or something."

Kisame and Erai stared at each other with a reluctant look. They tried to smile, but the outcome turned out sour. "You must have become more than just a genius now, huh?"

"On the contrary, I think I've become more stupid. More than once my brain cells exploded in my head. That's the reason why I avoided those books from Oniisan's shelf. Well…he does have tons of reading books, but they're all so boring and I can't really understand most of the things they say." she said. She giggled when Kisame chuckled at the mention of Kakuzu's collection of old books. She knew that Kisame was thinking of mockeries for her brother, but she couldn't help but laugh a little.

"But after the pain had ceased and Oniisan and Hokko-san were told to go back to the battlefield, I was left in the base alone. There, I made new little tricks."

The two men blinked with interest. Kisame grinned wider and said, "Well, what are you waiting for? Show us!" Agreeing his demand, Erai nodded vigorously.

Nagayoshi grinned back with pride. She had practiced this little trick for weeks and she was quite confident that she would not fail in front of them. She looked around and landed her sight on the lamp hanging above their table. She stood on her chair and let her fingers feel the light bulb's heat. A small amount of chakra accumulated on the last digit of her index finger and using that chakra, she pulled out all the electricity in the light bulb as she swiped her finger on the bulb. She hopped down to her seat with small electric current flowing in between her index finger and thumb. Erai leaned closer to look at the girl's fingers more closely while Kisame whistled in awe.

"Wow…you mind explain to us what you just did?" Kisame asked, pointing carefully at her fingers. He knew if he touched either or both of her fingers he won't be able to move for the next couple of hours.

She chuckled proudly and obliged to Kisame's request. "So what I did was stealing the electric current in that bulb and from its closest root. I've disabled the light bulb and the cable it hangs on to from receiving electricity from the main line. In return, I get this tiny electric current. They're actually around my hand, but you can only see what my fingers are giving. With this, I can use my jutsu even when I have limited amount of chakra. But I can't convert it into my own chakra because it's of a natural cause. To dismiss it from my body, I have to return it to where it belonged or use it until there's nothing left of it. Like…this!" A very diminutive needle zapped across the table and punctured the foam of the backrest of Kisame's seat.

The blue man looked over his shoulder to see the needle dissolve as it was being absorbed by the seat's foam. "Hey! You can actually silently kill someone with that! Cool!"

"I know, right? If I gather all the electricity from the whole shop, I might as well use it to shoot _Raihou _or my other jutsus." She stood up on her seat again and returned the remaining electric current back to where she took it. She sat down again. "But that's not the only thing I got to learn to do!"

"There's more?"

Nagayoshi just smiled and focused all of her concentration on her hand. It took a little longer than stealing electricity from an object, but the result was as stunning. Nagayoshi's hand was covered in lightning chakra, like a glove but with glowing material. She then explained, "Oniisan told me to try to learn chakra form alteration, this time without the help of my baton. He said I should be able to generate my own weapon without prompt like my baton. Well, for days, I've been learning and practicing, but this is so far I can do. Even if I can generate my own weapon, I don't know what the form it will be."

Erai moved his hands, a sincere smile on his face as he soundlessly spoke his words of encouragement. Nagayoshi smiled back. "Thanks, Erai! I'll try to make something neat with this. But…I just realize…nobody in Akatsuki uses lightning, am I right? Oniisan probably is one, but he mainly uses earth and water."

"You're right. None of us uses lightning chakra. But don't let that make you lose your spirit. Chakra form alteration is something that you need to find within yourself. Everybody has different style, including you, me, and Erai." Kisame said.

An empty ice cream cup thumped against the wooden table and the mute Akatsuki slid out of his seat. His two friends whisked their head in surprise; they didn't expect Erai to take off immediately after eating his cold dairy medicine. Nagayoshi and Kisame looked at each other in confusion before the blue swordsman called out after his short male friend.

"Hey, Erai! Where are you going? We're not even finished here!" he hollered.

Erai gestured his hand, using a little too much speed in forming his words. If it wasn't because he was a ninja, Kisame wouldn't have understood him. He nodded and sat back, letting the dwarf ninja leave on his own. There was a slight drop of warmth from Kisame, however.

Nagayoshi noticed the blue man's slight difference of air. She tilted her head to the side as she asked, "What did he say? He moved his hands so quickly. I missed a lot of what he said."

"He said he's going to visit his master's grave." Kisame answered, raising his head to meet the girl's face. "He missed his birthday this year because of this civil war." Kisame looked out to the window where Erai just passed in front of them seconds ago. He watched the short man walked throughout Amegakure's streets of puddles, with eyes so sharp and serious. "Erai have known Akatsuki before I do. He started out as a subordinate, just like you, Nagayoshi. I guess that explains why he cares so much about you."

In this cold and damp town, Nagayoshi suddenly felt her face burning after hearing Kisame's statement. Her fingers fiddled with her ice cream cup. "A-are you sure? Isn't it because I'm Kakuzu-niisan's sister? I heard he and Oniisan are quite close."

"That part is true too, but I don't think it has enough reason. So you knew, huh? That Erai's master was your brother's partner way before Hokko?"

"Yeah. Oniisan told me about him a little."

"Then you should've known how much the little guy worships him."

Nagayoshi didn't nod nor did she spoke her indication of agreeing with Kisame's statement. She looked out the window, following the rain-showered figure of Erai with her eyes. Erai was very different from her, but on one side, he was the same. A lost child in a large world; found and raised by a man who turned out to be a criminal and both had locked away their darkest, murkiest past behind them. Nagayoshi never felt so close to Erai before. It caused her to shudder and her chest to thump.

**|-oOo-|**

Erai clasped his hands together, praying for his master in the other world. He put several oranges on a light brown rock decorated with etchings of his name. Though he came to sincerely pray for his master, but his eyes were gloomy and he wasn't smiling. He clasped his hands together again after putting the oranges on top of the gravestone; only this time the shape was different. He closed his eyes, concentrating his chakra on his throat.

"Come on out, Zetsu. We're completely alone now." Erai spoke. For someone so small and childlike, Erai's voice was far from shrill and light. His voice was baritone.

"Erai, you talk!" Zetsu appeared, coming out from a tree behind Erai with eyes wide with amazement. **"You really mean it when you said you wanted to talk with us face-to-face, don't you? Have you forgotten that it requires half of your chakra to work?"**

"I only have ten minutes, Zetsu!" Erai grumbled. "Now tell me what I want to know: did Orochimaru really use my master's body for his dirty experiment?"

"We didn't see what he's been trying to make, **but he did ask for his body. **Only a small part of it, at least."

"I don't care if he only wants a small part or the whole thing! Now we know he had been experimenting that jutsu for god knows how long and he used the remains of the deceased members as a test subject! I don't care if he succeeded with the experiment or not; all I want to know is did you give him his body?" Erai roared at the bipolar semi-plant human. Zetsu jerked back a little. He thought Erai would emit a large amount of shock waves at him, regarding he was a voice-jutsu user.

"Relax, Erai… **We didn't say we give him his body. We said he asked for his body, claiming he wanted to do an autopsy.** Of course, since we aren't allowed to eat dead member's body, we declined his request, just to be fair, and cremated him. **But it's Orochimaru we're talking about. He must have stolen the ashes."**

"That bastard…" Erai growled, fists clenching tightly. He ignored the pain his nails caused by digging into his palms. "I will _not_ forgive him." he hissed to his master's grave before he fell to the ground, the time limit of his jutsu ran out. However, not with the hatred flashing in his Prussian blue eyes.

* * *

**Mmh, no comment with this one. You should've known what I might have in mind about this chapter. Damn this college life transition! So, rather than torturing myself with the lack of progress and ideas, my last resort is to accelerate the speed of the plot. There shall be MOAR surprises, just you see.**

_Next: The winter break the Akatsuki had been waiting for is here! Yet, this year, it won't be much of a holiday. Because…_


	37. A Complete Silence

**Chapter 36: A Complete Silence**

**

* * *

**

The naturally polished brown condensed hair was the last thing Ryouken had that reminded him of his brother. It was Yauji's horn that stuck to the body of the giant ninja he and Kakuzu defeated. His grip around the horn tightened. Had he not aware of the strength he applied, he might have broke the last remain. He gritted his teeth under those uncared dark brown lips of his. Orochimaru managed to resurrect him from the underworld, but not his brother? He demanded for an explanation from the snake Sennin, but he gave none.

_Why?_ he thought. Was Orochimaru afraid that a resurrected Yauji would betray him because of his loyalty to Kakuzu? _Nonsense!_ Ryouken spat in his mind. _He would have more hatred of that crippled bastard than me._

"Aren't you supposed to lead in front?" Kama asked sourly, hopping towards the zombie. He adjusted his scarf and blew a powerful gush of breath from his mouth. "And why in winter, of all times?"

"What's the matter, General? Miss your hibernating cave? Don't worry; we're going to a bigger and longer cave." Ryouken answered in such a mocking manner.

Kama growled. "If it wasn't because you were able to finish my soldiers off singlehandedly, I would have your head decapitated and throw your body to the vultures. I still feel so idiotic to follow your bidding."

"Stop complaining! None of our long wait will be fruitless. I have a brilliant plan in mind. I may have been called a simpleton, but definitely, I'm not even one." Ryouken replied with so much relaxation in his tone. He flicked all of Kama's concerns and fears of losing, resulting in more grumbles vibrating from the main leader of the Salamander Army.

Kama grimaced but conceded to Ryouken's suggestion. He looked to the said cave to which his best soldiers entered. His frown grew; of all places, why did they have to enter a cave right under the carcass a Siamese elephant's sound chamber?

Yet, the Hyena just stared at the piece of bull horn in his dark hand.

**|-oOo-|**

Kakuzu tilted his head to both side in a flick, trying to relieve the ache his neck was suffering. The tilting caused his neck to make a very loud crackling sound. For a moment, it was quite relieving, but then the ache hasn't gone completely. He groaned, "Ugh…my neck has never been this painful."

"That's because you keep your muscles tensed for the last three hours. Just relax, Kakuzu-san, it's not your money that we're giving to the agents." Hokko replied to his rambling partner as he counted envelopes and envelopes of paper money and coins. Each envelope contained five million Ryou and so far, there had been fifty envelopes ready to be given. The agents of Akatsuki were not a few, you know.

Kakuzu didn't want to answer in order to avoid from being called cheap, or selfish, or anything else alike. He agreed with Hokko, though; at least, it wasn't his money. However, being the financial manager he was, _he_ was the one assigned to count the paychecks and put them in a cluster of envelopes Konan made beforehand. It hurt him to let those precious forms of wealth go into the pocket. And being his partner he was, Hokko was the one assigned to keep an eye on Kakuzu, just in case he snatched a handful or two. So far, he spotted no signs of thievery attempt.

"Hi, 'Niisan! Sorry for barging in, but I gotta take my winter coat and my scarf! I'm going to practice outside!" Nagayoshi suddenly burst in. A gush of wind dramatically blew into the room, nearly sending the paper moneys to the air.

Kakuzu resisted the urge to slap his face with his hand. He nodded quickly. "Right, okay. Good luck with it."

As the girl put on her winter clothing and scarf, she squatted down to see what her brother was doing more closely. Kakuzu noticed her eyes looking at him and it started to annoy him. He turned to her, asking, "Aren't you supposed to be going, like, right now?"

"Geez, you're so mean, Oniisan! I'm just curious, you know!" Nagayoshi playfully dug her hands into Kakuzu's long dark brown locks, like how Kakuzu usually did to her. It was supposed to be an inappropriate thing to do to someone older, but since nobody have ever scolded her for doing such (not even Hokko, the child expert), she considered it as okay. It was for playful purposes, anyway.

Kakuzu yanked his head back and returned the favor to his sister. Nagayoshi burst in laughter and dashed off quickly before he got her head. She hollered as she left, "See ya later, 'Niisan!"

Hokko chuckled looking at the brother and sister. "You're very lucky to have someone like her. She's not as dry as you are, she's curious, and a good girl. I guess you do suit being a brother than a father or even grandfather for her, despite your age."

"Stop mentioning that, will you?" Kakuzu grumbled, reminding Hokko how much he hated the phrase 'your age'. Then he scoffed, "And Nagayoshi isn't an all-out good girl. She's a little imp."

"Yeah, I know she killed people, but that's acceptable. We all kill."

"Oh, right. Neither I nor Nagayoshi herself told you about her past. I forgot." Kakuzu stated, trying to be as ambiguous as possible. He smirked, both at Hokko's curious stare and the fact that a few leafs of paper money were slipped into the collar of his halter top under his coat. By whom? By Nagayoshi, of course.

**|-oOo-|**

A satisfied grin grew on Nagayoshi's face as she watched the chakra flow on her hands intensified. They became to look more solid from time to time ever since she started to develop this technique. It had only been four weeks and she got it this far. Not bad for a girl who 'cheated' on her general ninja technique studies at school. Now all she needed to do was to make a shape out of this intense flow of chakra.

She sighed, "Dammit…" The chakra disappeared from her hands together with the disappearance of her grin. She ran her hand through her boyish short hair in frustration.

She may have managed to go to a higher level of chakra control and the basics of chakra form alteration. Her problem was only one: she had no form yet. Once her chakra was ready to take shape of something, she cut it back, not knowing of what to make. She had tried to form a sword, an axe, a kunai and even a baton (which she was most accustomed to). However, whenever she tried to shape them, they dispersed violently and diminished. Nagayoshi knew why and her brother even supported it; she hadn't found a shape that represents her. She never felt that she was a weapon; therefore, her conscience rejected the weapon forms.

She didn't know what she was, should she ever be depicted with something non-human. It was so frustrating; it felt like finding a photograph of her under a stack of photos of ten million different people. She resolved to just practice on the control until she finally found the form she desired.

Nagayoshi took a deep breath. She unleashed her solid chakra again and swung her arms around, creating chains of electric current. She dashed towards a direction and swerved to the side quickly. With a quick pull on the thin string that she purposely left hanging on a tree, a practice dummy rose. _"Takogesu Sanran!" _she shouted. The chakra on one of her hands released several thin electric currents in a haphazard manner. The electric currents dispersed into many directions: some from the front, some from the sides, some from above and the rest was from the back. They didn't just attack through the air, half of them attacked through the ground. However, those electric currents didn't just zap their target mercilessly. They would actually puncture the target, in this case the dummy, and broke the pole holding the humanoid straw up.

The young kunoichi could imagine the effects if the same jutsu was done to a human target. She could imagine the amount of blood loss. Being the inventor of the jutsu she was, it would not slice and dice its victim for it will trigger Nagayoshi's fear of mutilated bodies. It will, however, go for the vital points.

She knew not all the Akatsuki members has passion to kill—her brother has not—but when talking about criminals in general, she couldn't understand when it comes to the enjoyment of killing. Surely, she had no interest in it. She did it because it was 1) an order, or 2) a must for survival. If she was given to the chance to choose, she preferred not to kill anybody. Though, if she had to kill, she wouldn't dare sever her victim too much. She would like to see her victim stayed in one piece. That didn't mean she would patronize anyone who prefer to cut the body parts of his/her victim, like Kisame. She respected other's way, but she would rather not have her eyes on the process when it happened.

She decided to stop for the day. She had no idea how long had she been practicing on her own. The sun was poorly shining these last few days, preventing anyone from seeing it in order for them to look at the time. One thing she positively sure about was she had practiced for hours for her pores to start drenching in sweat, despite being in the middle of winter.

Nagayoshi left the dummy the way it was and headed back to the base. It was possible that she was out for too long. She grimaced upon seeing the images of Kakuzu scolding her for going outside the base exceeding the time limit which he created. She could only hope she was wrong and that by the time she got back, the first thing Kakuzu would say to her is: "You're done already?" instead of "Where have you been?"

A kunai suddenly dropped a couple of meters in front of her, catching her attention. Nagayoshi looked up where the kunai just fell from. A baby-faced young man friendly waved at her. She smiled and waved back. "Hi, Erai! I just remembered it's your turn!"

Erai moved his hands, forming words from his hand language. Nagayoshi scratched the back of her head awkwardly and laughed bitterly.

"Yeah…I was practicing over there for the last few hours. So I guess I'm a little late to go back, huh? What time is it, anyway? The sun's not out, so I can't really tell." Nagayoshi replied. She hollered a little because Erai was ten and a half meters above the ground.

Erai moved his hands again, telling her that he also had no idea what time it was and asked her to keep him a few minutes of company. Although Erai was accustomed to loneliness (due to frequent solo missions), but he would love to have someone to talk to once in a while. His twelve-hour shift was due to over in the next five hours, but he could use a little company right now.

Nagayoshi willingly hopped up to Erai's position and sat beside him. "Okay, I'll sit with you for the next couple of minutes. But you better tell my brother you hold me back here."

Erai made a face of someone would when giggling and nodded. The two friends then just sat on the tall tree and watch over the perimeter. Nagayoshi studied the way Erai guarded all the secret passages' exits. He looked very casual, but she knew he was putting all of his attention to them. Meanwhile, all she did was chomping an apple she kept in the inside pocket of her winter coat and stared at the downsized man.

Noticing the feeling of being stared at, Erai turned his head towards Nagayoshi and gave her a look. The girl blushed having him caught her staring at him. In order to avoid long awkward silence, she asked, "So…this is like your, what, fifth time on guarding duty?"

Shrugging Nagayoshi's little antics off, Erai nodded to her question. Then she said, "I started to think that the Salamander Army really pulled back for good. I mean, it's almost a month and they haven't shown any signs of coming back. I even think Ryouken tricked them and ate them for their souls. You know, he's a zombie and zombie eats humans, right?"

Erai moved his hands about, speaking out his own opinion about Nagayoshi's seemingly impossible theory. He didn't believe they gave up. He was positive the Army had something in mind and the Akatsuki must stay prepared for it. He agreed a little to the 'Ryouken is a man-eating zombie' theory, though. It could be.

"Have you ever been participating in a war before, Erai?" Nagayoshi asked again. She watched him making words of the hand language and nodded. "So you have seen some but never put yourself in it? Then this is your first experience, isn't it?"

Erai confirmed it.

"Then aren't you nervous? I mean, this is your first time and you were already told to go here and there, annihilate a camp full of people, and then stand in front of god knows how many secret passages for twelve hours. That's a lot of work!"

Erai first confirmed Nagayoshi's point but then he added his opinion to it. He had to admit it was tiring at first, especially that he and Kisame's subdivision had to keep moving from one base camp to another. He never tired himself out like that before and being unable to stand for a whole day was quite an embarrassing experience for him. However, he added, it was the consequence for having a mega-destructive power. It was at this time that his power was useful the most. He didn't really mind, anyway, because serving for Akatsuki was what he was best at. He told her how much he treated the organization like home and its members like his family.

At which point, Nagayoshi was convinced that Erai really did come from the same background as she. She, too, never felt so homely until she spent her life in Akatsuki. Unlike when she was still living in Kumo, she was free of keeping secrets from her friends. Although she wasn't too close with some of Akatsuki's members like Pain, Sasori, and Zetsu, but she still respected them and considered them part of her family. His unspoken statements stroke her empathy and they softened her face.

She stood up, facing him. The older shinobi stood eight centimeters shorter than her (being 148 centimeters he was and never grew again), but she ignored that for now. She was just so beyond happy to found someone who understood her, someone who felt the same hardship and bliss as she. She couldn't contain this…delight…this…

Erai stared back at her and felt her poignant feelings around the cold winter air. He knew it was something he said to her that caused this. For once, he didn't feel he have to hide it anymore. There was no point for doing it anymore now.

Briskly, Erai pulled Nagayoshi's arms and crashed his lips to hers. Nagayoshi kissed back, despite being a little clueless on how to kiss. She shuddered slightly upon feeling his wool-gloved hand grabbing her face. She could feel his longing, how much he really wanted to have her like this from the way he continuously pulled her face closer.

They broke apart after a couple of minutes. Their hearts were still beating hard with the raging emotion inside of them. Erai still had his hand on her face and she didn't want it to go away. This was so much different; so much different than when she used to have a crush on a Kumogakure boy named Kamasu. This one was wilder, more vivid and more inexplicable.

A sizzle began to make sound all of a sudden. Nagayoshi spotted a paper bomb-attached kunai a few feet behind Erai. Her eyes bulged in alarm and she pushed Erai as far away from the bomb as possible.

The bomb detonated, sending shockwaves around. Erai guarded his face and he understood why Nagayoshi nearly threw him away without warning. The bomb must have been there when he and Nagayoshi were kissing. He realized that Nagayoshi hadn't run when the bomb exploded. A rush of panic washed all over his veins. If only he could scream out her name.

Nagayoshi managed to guard her face from the fire, but her winter coat had to take all the damage. She was thrown by the shockwave and was stopped abrasively by a large tree next to the one where Erai did his guarding duty. She shouted to the impact made between her back and the sturdy wood. However, she still had enough conscience power to let her chakra flow to her feet and hands so that she could hang onto the tree's trunk before she fell.

She winced; her ears were still ringing due to the explosion and her head was still spinning die to the crashing impact. Her blurry vision came back slowly and her senses too. Her senses were alert just right when a masked figure suddenly appeared behind her, a little bit above her, with a brass knuckle ready to hit her. Unfortunately, she was too late to dodge as the metal fist enhancer made a painful contact with her skull. This time, it took away her conscience with a couple or two droplets of blood.

With the absence of her consciousness, the flow of chakra on her hands and feet vanished instantly. Gravity took possession of her body and pulled her earthwards. Erai hopped as quickly as possible in order to save the girl but two tall figures with amphibian masks appeared before him. They both threw him two large shurikens, forcing Erai to stop and urgently shot out a short wave of sound to propel the metallic stars away.

Nagayoshi was still in mid-air and Erai rushed to get her, but a violent punch knocked him far away. A hand swiftly grabbed the unconscious girl by her collar, holding her like a man carrying a kitten. With much struggle and blood-spitting, Erai flew his hurried gaze to the catcher. At which point, his eye sockets expanded drastically.

The undead ex-member of Akatsuki caught her with one strong arm. He lifted the girl closer to him with complete ease, inspecting her bodily condition. Spotting a small damage on her head, Ryouken clicked his tongue disappointedly. "Dude! You make the girl bleed! Do you have to be so rough on her?" he complained to the ninja that hit Nagayoshi with a brass knuckle.

Erai glared at the dark-skinned man warily. He heard about him trying to rape Nagayoshi a few minutes before his death. With her in his hands now, Erai began to think of a strategy to get the girl back. He took a soundless deep breath as Ryouken's untransformed hand drew closer to the trickle of blood on Nagayoshi's head.

"Ooh…look how much you bleed…" Ryouken cooed with faux-sympathy. One finger swiped the trickle off and he brought the tip into his mouth. He sucked on the liquid and his body shuddered with insane delight. He sneered to Erai and, knowing what Erai's mind would have shouted, he cupped the unconscious girl's chin. "It's gonna be so much better when you bleed more…" he whispered, his mouth was dangerously close to the new blood trail on the side of her head.

The forest fire in Erai's heart intensified dramatically. He jumped forward with much rage. The previous ninja who hit him came back to knock him away again; but Erai was much more prepared. He kept moving forward, watching at his opponent's punch-ready fist. When the fist reared back, Erai grabbed his shoulder, pulled himself forward and screeched aloud. The screeching was painfully shrill and high-pitched. The ninja Erai was confronting shouted in pain and his ears bled profusely. With the lost of focus, it enabled Erai to gave him a hammer blow. Despite seldom using physical attacks, but his punches should not be underestimated. The bleeding ninja fell and landed on top of another tree branch. The other two raced to block off Erai from reaching Ryouken; one ready with his brass knuckles while the other was ready with his giant shuriken arsenal.

The shuriken came spinning first. Erai simply blew his breath, only letting out a soft 'whoosh'. Yet it was enough to slow down the shuriken and changed hands from the enemy to Erai. Without mercy, Erai swerved his arms and stabbed the original owner of the shuriken with his own weapon on the shoulder. Using the stabbed man as a suspender, Erai spun and back-roundhouse kicked the other one on the cheek and nose bridge. With them unable to move for a while, Erai immediately jumped towards Ryouken again.

His vision was blocked by another person speeding toward him. In the middle of his jump, Erai spontaneously brace himself to catch the thrown body of Nagayoshi. However, he never expected that to be a distraction—from an insanely smiling man dashing from his side. Ryouken struck Erai on the abdomen with a claw-less hand. Erai hacked and blood flooded his entire mouth and out. Ryouken slammed him to the ground, pressing the dwarf ninja on the ribs as they landed.

It surprised the Hyena Man that Erai's bones didn't break after such impact. He looked up and saw that the unconscious girl was in Kama's arms. The leader of the small troop left through the same passage he and his men used to go to this point. Kama was confused, actually. Why would Ryouken need the girl? Was she a key to success in destroying Akatsuki? Did she even have that kind of power? He felt that they should have owned Erai's power instead of Nagayoshi.

Using the absence of Ryouken's focus on him, Erai rummaged a kunai and directly stabbed it onto Ryouken's thigh. He heard no screams of pain or at least a sudden movement for a reaction. He had anticipated that; he knew that Ryouken was practically invincible now, from what he heard from Kakuzu, Nagayoshi and Hokko. But seeing his indifference to pain still caught him thunderstruck.

Ryouken devilishly grinned at him. "You think that's gonna work, eh, Chibi-kun?" he mocked the dwarf, half-lifting his left arm. He activated his claws and bristly fur, covering his entire arms and shoulders. He reared his arm back and jabbed it at Erai. More blood was shed from Erai's skin, but it was only three deep scratches on his cheek. Ryouken tried to jab more, but Erai got ahead of him and kicked him on every man's weakest part of the body. He didn't expect him to shout—especially since he didn't when he stabbed the zombie—but he knew he would jerk back.

Erai hopped back, as far away from Ryouken. His throat hurt due to the hit given by the Hyena Man. He could still make sounds, but they weren't enough to beat him. Thus, Erai pulled out a scroll and took out a pair of silver cymbals. Ryouken's eye squinted; he never saw that instrument before. In fact, he didn't even know that Erai has other weapons than his voice. Ryouken gave no damn about it; he rushed toward the dwarf ninja, his claws ready to slice him into chunks.

The cymbals were separated wide apart and the next second, their concaving side clashed against one another. It made a clamorous _CLANG_ that travelled through the air. Erai added his weak voice and as it followed the cymbals' sound, the power of Erai's voice amplified folds and folds until it became as destructive as it usually was. Ryouken was battered aback; he had to cross his furred arms in front of his face. Despite his efforts, the shockwave blew him away and tumbled in rolls on the snow.

He had just lifted his face from being dipped in the snow when he noticed a shadow getting darker above him. He turned briskly only to found Erai ready to veer his cymbal-equipped hands and chop him. The edge of the cymbals was apparently as sharp as the best samurai sword ever wielded. Ryouken rolled to the side, evading the deadly musical instrument. He evaded many times after that as he was hounded by Erai. Ryouken noticed something different in him and it was not hard to spot as the dwarf ninja glared at him with it. Erai's eyes contained so much hatred and anger. It was an alien view for the zombie and, for a moment, that difference stunned him. That gave enough time for Erai to cleanly cut Ryouken's arm.

"Son of a bitch!" Ryouken exclaimed and focused again on evading away. But that one mistake had loomed over him.

Erai didn't stop just yet. He thrust his arm forward and lacerated Ryouken's other arm. Ryouken gritted his teeth in slight panic. He kicked, trying to get Erai away from him. Erai turned his body to the side, dodging, and then sliced through Ryouken's footwear and leg. With the other arm, Erai stabbed him right on the chest. Ryouken looked to his chest and then up to Erai's dark eyes.

The cymbals were removed from his body by their owner, but the fight wasn't over. Erai stepped back a little and separated his cymbals wide apart. He clashed the two instruments together, rubbing the concaved side before separating them again and repeated the process. He blew his breath and voice to the clanging noise of the cymbals. The clamor emphasized the power of his chakra-enhanced voice and from a gush of breeze, it became a typhoon with chakra blades to make it more lethal.

The zombie Hyena Man received the attack right away and he had no hands to protect him anymore. Even though he had his hands, they won't do much good either since the chakra blades sliced and diced his body into pieces and the typhoon scattered his chopped off his bodies away. His scream was blown by the powerful torrent of airstream.

Erai panted. Anyone could clearly hear him voicing out his exhaustion and the misty fogs coming out from his mouth confirmed it more. Usually, his mere breath could bend back the crowds of grasses around him, but since it was winter and there were no grasses around, the physical effect from his voice couldn't really be seen. He was still angry; angry for what that pedophile had done to Nagayoshi and he angered the short man more when he suckled her blood. Now his anger has relieved a little, and he was glad that he defeated that freak. Now all he needed was to rescue Nagayoshi who was taken by Kama. Erai didn't need to interrogate Ryouken to know what he has in mind. Despite his fatigue, he turned around—

He briskly stopped. His eyes bulged widely and his whole body quivered. He looked down, to the part where his chest and stomach meet. There it was: a large pointy metal piercing right through his body. He knew what it was that stabbed him cleanly from back to front. It was the same bigger shuriken that he blew away with his voice power. He looked back with an effort and indeed, it was the same ninja as well that stabbed him. His shoulder was still bleeding from Erai's sadistic attack.

The shuriken wielder pulled his weapon back with such force. Erai winced and his legs wobbled, yet he refused to fall to his knees. He fondled his wounded upper abdomen, feeling his body liquid seeped fluently from the hole. Within seconds, his hand turned color into red. He heard a _'whoosh'_ from either of his side and before he knew it, a greater shock and pain coursing throughout his body. His body flew and plummeted to the ground as a large object smashed him on his face. He rolled on the ground and his blood spattered everywhere, painting the white canvas snow with red.

He quivered again; his arms were trying to push him up but he was so weak. He really couldn't move much anymore, but his will to save his friend was so strong that it kept giving him the strength needed. However, it didn't go as planned as four shadows of men loomed over him. He glanced aside and he couldn't remember when the last time he got surprised like that.

"That was some powerful shit," said Ryouken; body has regrouped completely, "but that was still not enough to kill me." With a speed of light, he gripped Erai's neck with his furry hands and sharp claws. The dwarf ninja squirmed to get free, but the more he moved, the more it caused grazes to his neck. He kicked his feet but Ryouken easily evaded it by craning his neck. He clutched tighter, his claws digging deep into Erai's skin. "I don't intend to invade Akatsuki's lair right now. I'm just giving them a warning and you are my token of contribution."

Weakly, Erai glared at the zombie. If only he could speak, he would have sworn damnation to him, wishing he would never rest and that his soul would never find peace. Ryouken simply smirked devilishly and then clutched the small man's neck tighter. His thumb caused severe injury on the front of his neck. When he pressed tighter, a powerful jet of wind blew out of the esophagus. Erai could slowly make a squeaked noise, but then it didn't cause Ryouken's hair to be wafted backwards or anything like that. Erai's eyes bulged in realization.

"I don't just stand around, goofing with Kakuzu. I've studied everything; from your fighting style, every of your jutsus, and even your weaknesses. This is a new lesson for you, little boy, to never underestimate your own 'friends'. You never know what they know about you." Ryouken said darkly with a sinister smile. "I know from the beginning that your power comes from your throat and disabling its function is a key to win against you. But another problem is your ears that are as sharp as an owl. You can hear your enemies coming from afar and you'd have attacked them in advance before they reach you. But, in my case, I'm lucky. The girl…that is your other weakness. Your childish emotions make you weak, Erai, they make you let your guard down. To be honest, I never see you that angry before, but that was your mistake. You overuse your power."

Erai was still squirming, but his attempts to get away were getting weaker and weaker. He lost his energy and it made him hard to move. All he could do was to glare at Ryouken and unwillingly admitted his mistakes. His heart was filled with wishes, apologies, and regrets.

"Well…we gotta go. Sayonara, Chibi-kun…" Ryouken's grin widened and his claws clenched more tightly.

Erai's mind sped up. He thought of Akatsuki, Kisame, Pain, Kakuzu, his master…and the girl he loved and failed to save.

* * *

**Well, that was an obvious reference from the Konan vs. Madara chapter. I'm sorry, guys~~~! But Erai really has to go! You should know why. He will be missed, by the way… X'( And I didn't plan to make Nagayoshi a 'damsel in distress' all the time. I'm afraid it'll turn her into weak, useless Mary-sue while clearly she is not. So…you'll see something cool.**

**From the looks of this chapter, you all must have known that the Akatsuki vs. Salamander Army War arc is about to be over. I don't intend to prolong it, especially that my ideas are starting to run short and I kept getting blockages every once in a while. I promise you, the next one won't be boring. Stay tune!**

_Next: Akatsuki found Erai lifeless in the sea of snow. It is the time where they have to make an immediate move. To avenge a valuable friend's death and to rescue someone dear._


	38. Divide and Conquer

**Chapter 37: Divide and Conquer**

**

* * *

**

Although subtle, but all of the Akatsuki could feel the vibration. Moreover, some of the members could actually hear the sound of explosion, including the leader himself. If they were average Joes, they would only question it for a while and then went back to work. But Akatsuki didn't consist of average Joes, plus the fact that it came from the direction of the guarding post only pressed the alarm bell within each of them.

"Zetsu, parameter check—now!" Pain quickly commanded. Zetsu quickly disappeared into the wall without a word. The leader's heart started to be filled with concerns. Did the Salamander Army came at last to attack them all while they least expected it? Moreover, Erai was out there all alone.

Hurried running steps vibrated through the corridor before his office until suddenly the door was abrasively opened by an urgent Konan. "Nagato! The main entrance is sealed from outside! We can't get out!"

"What?" Pain exclaimed, clearly dumbfounded with the discovery. He stood upright and rushed towards said entrance.

Kakuzu knew by the time he faintly heard that explosion that either of his sister or the young man his previous partner trusted him to was in danger. He instantaneously abandoned his work, wore his headgear and mask, and ran towards the entrance. Hokko followed closely; he too heard what his partner heard.

When they reached the end of the secret tunnel, when Kakuzu used his ring to open the hidden door, some force repelled him. He tried to approach it again, more slowly this time. He put his hand on it and he could see the air rippled like water. Hokko saw it too and as if seeing was not enough, he tried to touch it too.

"What the hell is this? Is this…?" Hokko asked.

"Kekkai. It's on inside and out. Somebody put it while we're not looking." Kakuzu said.

"It's been on just recently." Itachi suddenly showed up behind the two partners. Kakuzu and Hokko had gotten used to his little antic. So seeing him all of a sudden and then spoke to them was a normal thing to them. But because of what he said, they had to put their flabbergasted face on. "I can feel it. It's still new."

"Then how the hell can we get out of here?" Hokko asked heatedly. "Erai-kun and Nagayoshi-chan are out there."

"I don't like doing this," Kakuzu muttered, "but I really have to raze it to the ground." he said, raising his left arm up and turned it into its iconic stone transformation. He reared back and launched his fist. It created an ear-tearing boom and the kekkai rippled insanely. Yet, they were still intact. Kakuzu was not a man who gives up easily, so he tried again and again.

"It's no use, Kakuzu-san." Hokko said loudly, stopping the fist of his partner from hitting some more. "It's a kekkai; it won't die out that easily. Somebody has to disable it from—"

Unexpectedly, the kekkai just vanished. The hidden door shifted and slid aside. Kakuzu and Hokko stared at it with sheer confusion. They just stared at the sliding door speechlessly and gaped when Zetsu appeared on the other side of the door. The white side blinked, "Hi, there, guys." he said. **"We turned off the kekkai. You should thank us.** Don't listen to him. **Bastard…** We're too late, Kakuzu."

"What?" Kakuzu stammered.

White Zetsu refused to speak, but not the black side. **"See for yourself." **he said coldly and turned around, leading Kakuzu and Hokko towards the position of his finding. Meanwhile, Itachi went back inside to call his partner and the rest of the Akatsuki. Surely, everybody wanted to know what happened outside.

**|-oOo-|**

Hokko lost his breath; not from running, but from the horrid view in front of him. He covered his mouth with the back of his hand. His staggered breathing could still be heard through the exhales done by his nose. Kakuzu was as speechless as Hokko. His eyes dilated to the point where his eye sockets couldn't stand anymore. He stepped slowly forward when Hokko gasped, "My God…"

Badly injured, battered, and motionless, Erai was found lying on the snow somewhere in the woods. Footprints, drag marks, and signs of someone fell were scattered all around the body. Obviously, there had been a serious fight in this area. The singed and broken trees were the remains of the explosion. However, something seemed off.

Kakuzu was too shocked to notice that anomaly. He knelt before the young man and turned Erai's ice cold body. A normal person would wince or even puke, but not Kakuzu when he saw a large hole on the center of Erai's throat as well as his half-crushed left side of the face. The dwarf ninja's eyes were half-lidded, yet there were no signs of life from those Prussian blue orbs. Kakuzu put his hand over the eyes and carefully slid it close. He bitterly sighed and put his hand on the back of Erai's head, lifting it slightly.

Nobody saw it. Because of his mask, nobody saw it moving. _I failed my promise._

The rest of the Akatsuki arrived a minute later. From all of them, only Kisame gave the most palpable reaction. His breath was practically running away from his lungs. His eyes suffered the same thing as Hokko. He quickly approached Kakuzu and dropped to his knees. "Erai…no…" he gasped. "No…" he repeated disbelievingly.

"Kisame…" Itachi walked closer to his tall blue partner and placed a hand on either of his shoulders. "He's gone. I'm sorry." he said, a very faint sign of condolence misted from his breath. The Uchiha realized how valuable Erai was to his partner. He had known the dwarf ninja far before Itachi joined in Akatsuki a few years ago. Kisame and Erai had known each other almost for a decade. Erai was the little brother he never had. Itachi knew precisely how that feels. And for that, he let his sympathy show.

Kisame massaged his eyebrows, trying not to display his emotion too much. He sighed, "Who did this to him?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kakuzu cut immediately. There was a grumble in his voice. "It's Ryouken." He stood up slowly. He carried Erai in his arms. He intended to bury the fallen Akatsuki properly. When he turned around, he found the face of the orange-haired leader standing before the rest of the organization. Kakuzu stared at the leader who eyed the already lifeless Erai in his arms. He couldn't tell what he was thinking exactly, but he was sure Pain was feeling sorry for the death of a valuable member.

"He's already dead when you found him, isn't he?" Pain asked. He needed not an answer; from Kakuzu's look alone, he could confirm his own question. "Zetsu, have you seen the last minutes of his life before he died?" he turned to the bipolar half-plant.

"We did. **We came just a few minutes after Ryouken killed him.**" answered Zetsu.

"Then show it to us."

Zetsu nodded and his hands formed a short seal. Three Zetsu clones emerged from snowy ground in front of the other members and the original stood before the leader and the co-leader. He raised his hands and one finger touched the forehead of both Pain and Konan; the clones imitated him. "We shall begin."

Then everybody saw what Erai saw. It started with a landscape of trees and woods covered entirely by snow. This year's winter was snowier than before. Then the view moved downwards and a boy-looking girl was jogging towards her way back. Nagayoshi. Kakuzu's original heart smashed against his ribcage. His sister—what happened to his sister?

Nagayoshi came up and sat by his side. Erai's eyes returned to the milky white horizon in front of him. After a couple of minutes, he returned his gaze to the girl beside him, who then gave a surprised expression. They talked for a minute, and then he stood, closed his eyes and his brain was filled with ecstasy. Even with the lack of image, everybody knew they had a kiss. Kakuzu's previously gruff emotions melted. The brain contained all information sent by the body; thus, he could feel the dwarf's feelings when he kissed his sister.

His eyes were opened again and he stared deep into Nagayoshi's eyes. Suddenly she shouted and shoved him away as far as possible. There was the explosion they heard faintly from the base. Erai's view was covered by smoke, even as he landed his feet onto another tree. His eyes searched for the familiar figure of the girl. He saw her once the smoke faded. She was safely sticking her hands and feet to a large tree trunk far across him. But then, briskly, a man appeared above her and smacked her on her head that she collapsed and fell to earthwards. Erai rushed to get her but he was impeded by two other ninjas.

He looked up and saw Ryouken holding the girl, who was unconscious, by the collar. His anger boiled to the point where his visions seemed to blur as he jumped forward and knocked down the two ninjas. There was an image where he fell to the ground with a crash. Soon afterwards, Ryouken was standing above him, above his abdomen. The two of them then fought. Erai had to use his ultimate weapon. He seemed to won for a moment, but unexpectedly, the two ninjas were still alive, and one of them had just stabbed him.

Again, another quick blur. Erai got hit by something really hard and tumbled to the ground. Ryouken than appeared before his face and the Hyena Man spoke.

"_I don't just stand around, goofing with Kakuzu. I've studied everything; from your fighting style, every of your jutsus, and even your weaknesses. This is a new lesson for you, little boy, to never underestimate your own 'friends'. You never know what they know about you."_

Erai's visions began to blur on its own. He was suffocating from Ryouken's painfully tight grip on his neck. His struggles began to weaken. He glared down to him one last time.

"_Sayonara, Chibi-kun."_

And the visions were gone.

"That is all." Zetsu said. "Those are the last minutes of his life."

"Kakuzu-san…" Hokko muttered to his partner. "Your sister…"

"I know. I'll get her back. This is my promise for her, myself—and him." he looked down to Erai glumly. He then brusquely turned around, fire in his eyes. "I'm going to get that bastard now." he growled.

"Stop, Kakuzu." Pain grabbed Kakuzu by the shoulder. The masked ninja stared at him piercingly, but the leader didn't budge. "Don't be in such a rush. Even as we speak, the Salamander Army is heading this way through our secret passages Ryouken had showed them. Ryouken won't be getting involved in this one because he got your sister and he wanted her for him alone. So we will need more men here than we do there."

"Then what are you suggesting, Pain-sama?" Kakuzu asked, a little growling. He was impatient to get his sister back and angrily eager to finish the Hyena Man once and for all.

"I will come down and fight too this time. Konan and I'll be coming with you and Hokko in retrieving your sister. The rest of you stay here and defend the headquarters. In the mean time," Pain put one hand on Erai's brown hair, "we shall give him a proper funeral."

**|-oOo-|**

Nagayoshi snapped her eyes open when she heard a man shouted extremely loudly somewhere around her. She whipped her head up and an unfamiliar vista greeted her eyes. The day had gotten dark. She had no idea whether she had been out for days or even just a couple of hours. She tried to get up, but something restrained her. She couldn't move to stand, let alone bringing her hands together in front of her.

She was tied to a pole and her hands were tied together behind her, around the wooden pole. She shifted, hoping that the rope will loosen and set her free. As she squirmed, she looked around. It seemed like she was in a tent or something. A very big tent that could even place a table a set of chairs around it. She then focused her ears on the voices. The man shouting was commanding a large group of people to move on a particular direction. The lack of light gave a poor silhouette of people's movement outside. Her ears weren't as trained as Erai's so she couldn't possibly tell where they were going, unless there was only one man running.

Erai. She suddenly remembered. What happened to him after she was hit? Was he okay? Was he badly injured? Her mind was wondering so much about him that she stopped squirming and late to notice someone was coming into the tent.

"Kakuzu must have shared some of his genes to you, now hasn't he, Naga-pyon?" said the husky tenor voice of Ryouken. Nagayoshi's mind came back from wondering and she continued struggling. Ryouken sneered at her effort and squatted in front of her. His distance from her was closer than Nagayoshi's uncomfortable zone. "You can struggle all you like, sweetie. But it's gonna be dawn by the time you get off and your wrists won't look as good."

"I don't care if I have to lose both of my hands if it means away from you, jerk." Nagayoshi snarled at the dark-skinned man.

"There's no use fighting back, cupcake." Ryouken cupped her face. "And even if you get away without your wrists, you'll already be deflowered by me. I don't need stupid foreplays." He grabbed Nagayoshi's knees and pushed them apart. A wicked grin grew on his face.

Adrenaline fueled all of her nerves and she suddenly kicked back. Her heel made an excruciating impact with Ryouken's hips that should be painful should he not be a zombie. "Get away from me, you fucking freak!" she shouted at him, persistently keeping both legs together.

Ryouken glanced down coldly at the girl. "So you wanna play rough, eh?"

"Hey! You! Ryouken!" Kama shouted, getting into the tent where Nagayoshi was held in.

Ryouken sourly turned to him. Nagayoshi was grateful he came right on time or else she would bear a shame she knew she won't be able to erase with time. Ryouken sighed bitterly, "What?"

"Get out. You're the one with directions. You can come back here later when we're all settled."

"Coming right up…bitch…" he whispered the last bit and stood. Before he walked out, he looked down to Nagayoshi. "We're not finished here. You're just lucky that this place is still crowded with stupid people. When I get back, you'll experience something fun. Well, if it wasn't because of my perfect timing, you'd have done it with that short twit."

"Erai may be short, but he's not a twit! He'll come and save me, I know it!" Nagayoshi snapped back.

Ryouken laughed scornfully. "Him? Saving you? Not in a hundred of years. All of the Army is heading to the base through the secret passages I've shown them. They will arrive in no time. And before your favorite little club won't have time to prepare. Before they know it, they all will be dead." He grinned at Nagayoshi's furious expression and laughed again. "Even your little heartthrob."

"He won't die that easily."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. But he's quite easy to manipulate with. I just have to tell something about you then he'll unleash hell. Maybe I'll tell him, I dunno, that I stole his kiss on you?"

Nagayoshi's eyes gaped. She remembered that moment. She tried to absorb the goodness that moment gave her. She closed her eyes tight, hoping and praying for Erai to not lose control of himself. She tried to ignore Ryouken's evil laugh as he went by and out. No one should believe his words, she thought, no one.

**|-oOo-|**

Kakuzu had never been this Sasori-like ever. Kakuzu was never known for his impatience, but everybody knows about his ambition to get money. Usually, that factor was the thing that changed him from the cool-headed gentleman into a greedy and hungry wolf. However, in this case, no money was involved. Yet, he was as impatient as a greyhound in the race track before it began. Indeed, he was in a race: a race against time—before something unpleasant happened to his sister.

Hokko glanced to his partner every now and then, measuring and calculating the moment of his eruption. Any minute now…

"Been waiting long?" Pain asked as he and his woman partner appeared from the darkness of winter night. He saw Kakuzu rolled his eyes. Obviously, the masked ninja was trying to stop himself from strangulating the orange-haired leader.

"Done preparing?" Kakuzu asked back, sourly.

Pain nodded. "We shall go now. The other members have also prepared for the big battle ahead of them."

"It's four hours journey without the secret passages. It'll be dawn before we know it." Hokko said, looking at the sky.

"Then what do you suggest we should do to cut the time?" Kakuzu turned to his partner. From the looks of his jade eyes, he wasn't too delighted with the four-hour journey idea.

Hokko flashed a bright optimistic smile at his comrades. "That's why you got me, my friend!" He bit his thumb until it shed a droplet of his blood, smeared a line onto his palm and slapped it to the ground. A very familiar stance in the ninja world. _"Kuchiyose No Jutsu!"_

The other three ninjas squinted as the smoke disrupted their eyesight. It didn't linger in the air too long and exposed the three of them to a new vista, standing beside Hokko. Their eyes expanded in astonishment. With height around two meters, two horses stood tall. However, they look nothing like ordinary horses. The two of them has coat as dark as coal, even the flashing red and yellow lines of a burning coal. Their manes and hair around their hooves were made of live flames instead of bristled hair. Their eyes were glowing yellow.

"Folks, these are my beloved couple. The taller, bulkier one is Tantei the stallion. The slimmer beauty one here is Haijo, the mare of the relationship. They're my long-distance rides; run as fast as 125 km/h and only need oxygen to live—just like fire." Hokko explained with pride. He patted both of the horses' neck and to his comrades' surprise, they didn't burn him.

"Nay, they would never burn me or my friends." Hokko added, as if reading their thoughts. "They're trained. I've known them since my teenage years."

Kakuzu walked towards the two flame horses. Tantei eyed the masked ninja with his glowing eyes, wondering why unfamiliar man eyed him in such fashion. Kakuzu turned to the horse's owner. "Only two? You do realize there are four of us, don't you?"

"No need for us." Pain cut before Hokko got to answer. "Konan and I can keep up."

Kakuzu nodded and mounted the male horse. With ease, Kakuzu directed Tantei to the right direction to go. He lightly heeled the stallion's stomach and whipped the leash. He shouted and started galloping through the snowy forest of Rain Country. Hokko quickly climbed up to the mare and caught up, Pain and Konan closely behind him. The four-hour journey was going to be fast-forwarded.

The snow and ice melted as the burning equids stomped their hooves on the cold ground. Their live fire manes sprinkled embers to the sky and their glowing eyes left a momentary trail of light. Tantei and Haijo galloped tirelessly and at a speed that was hard to keep up with. Pain and Konan had to let themselves being left behind as well as watching the horse riders' backs.

Lights started to show up from afar and Kakuzu could immediately tell those were torches lit around the Salamander Army's base camp. His grip on the leash tightened, but not decelerating or accelerating the speed of the stallion. He was going to take back his sister and settle an unfinished business with an old friend. But first…

…a hedge made of one thousand guard ninjas must be breached beforehand.

**|-oOo-|**

The last stroke of Erai's name was carved upon the stone that marked the smallest member in Akatsuki's grave. Kisame wedged the kunai he used to carve on top of the stone's curvy surface. He blew the dusts from the name and stood. He stared at his work of sculpting. Erai's name was spelled correctly; being written in Hiragana, it wasn't such a hard job to do. He lowered his gaze towards a smaller set of words.

_A small being in a big world making a great sacrifice._

He grimaced. He never knew how drastically different things would become when the little guy was gone. He sighed and whispered, "Have a good rest, good friend." He turned around rather somberly, hating to leave Erai alone in his grave although he knew the dwarf ninja was not really alone down there. His drooping shoulders rose and stiffened as he walked.

He could hear them coming. He could hear the stampede of thousands and thousands of people towards the exit of total eighty-two secret passages. He took Samehada from his back and rested the gigantic sword on his shoulder. He arrived by Itachi's side who was eyeing several secret passages at once. The Uchiha made a quick glance to his partner.

"You done?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm done." Kisame answered.

The stampede was getting closer and the two men could hear it echoing louder and louder. Kisame's grip on Samehada's hilt tightened. Ten meters on their left, Sasori—still inside of Hiruko—unrolled a scroll. Smokes puffed and a thousand of highly lethal marionettes were summoned. He looked back for a moment, grumbling.

"Are you sure it's only going to be the three of us fighting?" he asked sourly. "We may be powerful but nobody is stupid enough to defeat thousands with only three people."

"Sorry to disappoint you, Sasori-san, but I think we are some kind of fools." Kisame commented, smirking at the puppet master. He returned his attention to the passage exits and his face grew a little somber again. "Sure, it'll be a lot easier with Erai on our side…" he added in whispers.

"Not to worry." said a male voice.

"Now I'm prepared." added another male voice.

Those voices were unfamiliar to the three Akatsuki's, hence the brisk and alarmed turning. Once they turned, the tension on their shoulders were gone slightly, but not with the one on their eyes. Their eyes were still bulging—with surprise. Two men; one bald and the other one had a long hair tied into a high ponytail stood a few meters behind them. The bald one had a maniacal face (his eyes seemed to open that wide all the time) while the other one had a cold expression. They did have some astounding similarities, though.

One: They have piercings all over their face or head.

Two: They have orange hair (although one of them was bald).

Three: They both wore Akatsuki's trademark black cloak with red clouds.

Four: Rinnegan.

The two bodies of Pain jumped and appeared beside the remaining three astounded members. Although they were still struck with disbelief, Kisame, Itachi, and Sasori returned their focus to the upcoming army of Hanzo's men. The long-haired Pain kneeled down, put his hand on the ground, and waited. One second…two…three…four…five and voices roared. Chakra smeared the snowy ground.

"_Kuchiyose No Jutsu!"_

_

* * *

_

**W00T! Another epic chapter is coming up next, guys! Be ready to have your breaths taken away! Seriously, I shouldn't even give a comment here… See you on the next chapter! And…Happy Halloween!**

_Next: The real war has begun. The ultimate battle to rescue, to avenge, and to protect._


	39. To Fight for the Truth

**Chapter 38: To Fight for the Truth

* * *

**

As much as four hundred people were running inside one secret passage. The closer they came to the end of the tunnel, the louder they roared. They roared the name of their worshipped leader as well the father of the three generals that lead them there. They all braced their weapons, whatever it was. Since it was in the middle of the night, no light could tell them that they had reached the end of the tunnel. However, a gush of chilly wind did the job. The first few ninjas that were running in front accelerated their running speed and came out—only to be flattened by a gigantic dog paw.

The ninjas behind them didn't stop; they either attacked the dog's tremendously large foot or going to attack the man-sized members of Akatsuki. Unfortunately, they underestimated each of their capability. Soon, dozens of them ended having their organs ripped, being stomped by massive animal feet, being exploded into smithereens, poisoned, or just simply stabbed on the vital points.

Despite only consisted of five men, a giant three-headed dog, a giant tapir-rhino, and a giant stork, the Akatsuki immediately gained the upper hand of the battle. The partners, Kisame and Itachi, watched each other's backs. Often Itachi used Kisame's sturdy and tall body to help him jump up to the air and launched the Uchiha's trademark fire jutsu. While some people were burned down, Kisame dashed to one of the exits.

He smashed the skull of a few people before hurriedly formed a set of hand seals. A large amount of water streamed wildly from his mouth, filling the tunnel he was standing in front of with the clear liquid. The men inside were drowned, but they switched on the main function of their amphibian mask and swam towards the surface. But Kisame didn't stop there. He put his blue-skinned palm on the water's surface. _"Goshokuzame!"_ Chakra streamed out from his fingers and each stream formed into a shark made of condensed water. The shark shinobi grinned seeing the tunnel filled of water turned red.

The bald Pain—Shurado—jumped over to watch over Kisame's back and kept shooting strange projectiles towards his enemies. He looked over his shoulder. "Done yet?" he asked.

"Gimme a minute!" Kisame quickly replied. "There is this one little prick that just won't die…" Kisame's eyes squinted as he controlled his water sharks to chase the last Salamander soldier. Suddenly, a man's face appeared to the surface, bawling. Kisame jerked back slightly in surprise but punched the face of that man with his free hand. That punch put the man in a momentary stun, enough time for the sharks to catch him up and tear him into pieces. Once he was sure no one was left in that tunnel, he released his hand and water burst out of the exit.

"Good job, Kisame." Shurado Pain nodded to the tallest member in Akatsuki.

Itachi roundhouse kicked several ninjas at once and then hopped back. He looked over to his comrades. "Everybody stand behind me. You don't want to get this." he warned them with his cool voice, remaining as cool as he was normally.

Sasori pulled back his puppets and himself; Chikushodo Pain told his summoned animals to move back and stand back. They all waited for Itachi, most of them were curious. All but one: Itachi's partner.

"You're not thinking of…" Kisame stopped himself as he saw blood tears from one of Itachi's eyes. He gritted his teeth and was about to step in and grab Itachi on the arm, but he was too late. One man had burst in flames.

Black flames.

**|-oOo-|**

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" a man screamed from his post. He saw two glints of fire running towards the base camp before he realized two Akatsuki members were sitting on top of that 'running flames' which turned out to be horses. He gaped as he saw the horses soared above him and landed behind him. His breath was cut short by a sword-sharp paper nearly dividing his skull. His partner a few meters on the post across him didn't make it to see the next day either.

"Kakuzu, Hokko! Stop!" Pain shouted at his horse-riding men. The two men pulled the leash of their respective horses and Pain landed in front of them. He raised both arms towards the incoming Salamander Army. _"Shinra Tensei."_ he muttered. A great destructive yet invisible wave sent the soldiers away for hundreds of meters.

Kakuzu hopped down from the stallion and congealed his forearms into stone. "Make sure not to blow away the tents. My sister or Ryouken must have been inside one of them." Kakuzu said quickly to the leader before he stormed out to crush bones and shed blood.

The masked ninja opened the buttons of his cloak and exposed his bare back to the winter air for a moment. Three out of four masks sprung out of his back and rampaged violently as their feet touched the earth. Only the green mask that was still attached to his back. The Earth elemental mask. Although Kakuzu's original heart could also use the earth chakra, but he knew with the green mask's help, he could launch more earth jutsu. A dozen or more soldiers moved forward to attack him, but Kakuzu wasn't up to defend. He will always be up to offend.

Hokko whispered to his couple of flame horses, "You two stand back. You two weren't born to fight." He re-opened the wound on his thumb again, drawing another drop of blood. He stamped the liquid to the ground and it quickly formed an elaborate circle of seals. Smoke billowed from the palm of his hand. A forceful jet of wind swiped the smoke away. A horse larger than life stood before the battlefield of ninjas—on two hoofed feet. It has a light brown coat and red mane, with tiny streaks of yellow on it. There was a large white diamond shape on his nuzzle and a bigger one on its very much anthropoid chest. Even it had human-like hands and one of them held a giant and widened version of the Chinese hook sword. And just like the smaller four-legged counterparts, this horse owned a pair of glowing yellow eyes.

The gargantuan two-legged horse looked over its hips and down, to see a fairly fresh-looking aged man with a cowboy hat. "Well, well…how unusual. Hokko…so after thirty years, you decide it's okay to call me into the middle of a battle?"

"Ah, c'mon, man. I've never put myself into a big battle again after my escape from prison! You should be happy; you get to see me in this fateful day!" Hokko said lightheartedly, jumping up to the horse's head and sat snugly between its ears.

There was a sigh coming from the man-horse's mouth. "Just tell me which one I should be hitting."

"Everyone that doesn't wear the same cloak as me, except those three…things…with animal-like mask."

"Gotcha. So, aren't you gonna fight?"

"Of course I do!" Hokko jumped down from the man-horse's head and to the ground. He took out both of his fire whips. A smirk full of fighting spirit flashed on his face. "Let's burn, Moyasuke."

**|-oOo-|**

Nagayoshi winced when she heard what it sounded like an explosion, though it sounded much softer than an explosion caused by paper bombs. Wind rushed into the tent and swiped her hair back. She knew a battle was occurring outside and to that, her heart flickered with fortitude. She then remembered her newly learned technique and began to initiate it. Not all of her strength had come back from the unconscious state, but she should be able to gather enough chakra to coat her hands with. She heard more explosions—familiar explosions and an equally familiar roar.

"Oniisan…" she whispered as she struggled to escape. The fact knowing that her brother came to rescue her made her try to escape from the binding grow stronger. She could feel the chakra accumulating on her hands. Now all she needed to do was to condense them and let the loose currents cut the strings of the rope.

"I knew I should've done you earlier." Ryouken's voice said all of a sudden. He nearly broke her concentration, but her will power to be free was strong enough to ignore him. "I'll just do a quick one on you before your big old brother gets here." he said again, cupping Nagayoshi's face and made her eyes see his. To Nagayoshi's surprise, he was looking impatient, which was something she had hardly ever seen before.

Her surprise was rapidly replaced by contempt as the Hyena Man's hands began to roam on her thighs and up. Before his fingers fumbled with the zipper and the button of her pants, Nagayoshi silently freed her hands. She shouted, _"Takogesu Sanran!"_ and small but abundant electric streams rushed through both ground and air around the girl and punctured on many places of Ryouken's body. They drove him away with a broken face and deeply punctured chest and stomach. Far enough for Nagayoshi to get up and stood as far away as possible from the maniac.

Ryouken growled as his face and body recovered themselves. He glared at the girl who was unfazed by his thick and negative emotion display. She rummaged her back pocket, only to realize that her weapon pouch was not on where it supposed to be. She gritted her teeth, hearing the child rapist laugh.

The laughter stopped and it was replaced by those dark eyes that he shot at Kakuzu a few moments before he died the first time. "You are just as despicable as your brother, you little bitch." Ryouken snarled; his face had regenerated completely. "Blood siblings or not, you will be just the same."

"So how about you and your little brother? From what I heard, you're worst than him." Nagayoshi retorted.

"_Don't bring him up!"_ Ryouken roared at her with much power in his voice. "You don't even know him. You know nothing! It was all fallacy your brother told you in order to 'soften' the true story! He just doesn't want to admit that he killed him! All these years—and he still won't admit! That fucking bastard!" Ryouken activated his claws in a zap and divided the pole where Nagayoshi was tied to into two. Nagayoshi dashed to the side, avoiding the falling piece of hard wood.

"My brother didn't kill yours! I know because I can tell from his face when he told me about him! You should've seen how frustrated he was with this whole situation!" Nagayoshi yelled at Ryouken. Unsuspectingly, Ryouken was already in front of her and snatched her on the neck. She winced to the stinging pain his claws gave to her neck.

"Him? Frustrated?" Ryouken growled.

Unable to speak, Nagayoshi nodded. With a quick burst on his arm muscles, Ryouken easily flung the girl to the side. Nagayoshi shouted at the action and her body crashed against the desk and all the stuffs on it. The fall and crash caused her nose to bleed profusely and cut a skin on the back of her head. Among the falling objects, she saw her weapon and quickly reached out to grab it. But Ryouken's foot arrived sooner and stomped over her wrist. She yelled at the feeling of his shoe sole pressing forcefully against her skin.

"That was the worst bullshit I've ever heard. Just because you spent most of your childhood with him, that doesn't guarantee you can read every single expression he made. You don't study that kind of thing ever!" Ryouken bellowed fierily, putting more weight on his feet and thence to her wrist.

"I admit that he is hard to read most of the time, but it was different! Trust me, Ryouken. I think he valued the presence of your brother." Nagayoshi was forced to turn around and Ryouken picked her up on her wrist like a stuffed doll—a bruised and dirty stuffed doll. His two-colored eyes shot dangerously sharply at her obsidian ones. Nagayoshi panted a little; breathing with blood in her nostril was hard. "You should…see his eyes." she breathed.

Ryouken's grip on her wrist felt loosening a little. Nagayoshi wondered if he finally believed her words. His eyes descended to the soil and the scattered objects. Then the bristle fur on his arms grew more to cover his neck, chest, and a part of his cheeks and jaw line. With curled claws, he gave a round punch to Nagayoshi's abdomen. More blood sputtered from her mouth; moreover, his claws made a regular punch felt three times harder.

He spat, "Beh! His eyes…I don't buy any of those bullshits!" Ryouken once again tossed her aside. As he watched the girl tumbled around on the ground, hitting against other objects and have them fell onto her, the furs grew more, reached his stomach, and had changed his ears' shape. He walked closer to her; the word mercy had no longer existed in his dictionary.

"I feel sorry for you, kid. You're a newcomer to the life; you've only known him for a little while. If compared to his age now, your existence has no meaning at all. You're just a teeny-tiny little fraction of his life—that's worthless. No wonder he hides so many things from you. Including why you're allowed to enter the organization's lair in the first place." Ryouken rambled as he advanced.

The last sentence of his speech froze Nagayoshi. What did he mean by that? What did he mean by allowed to enter in the first place? Ryouken wasn't finished talking and she listened.

"Your background is unclear yet you possessed such ability. It is not Sharingan or anything fancy like that, but isn't it strange that an average Jane like you are allowed to enter and even was given time to study at a proper ninja school?"

"He wouldn't do that—" Nagayoshi tried to deny.

"Oh, really? Wouldn't he? What? What do you want to say, huh? That you reminded him of his late little sister WAY back in the past the moment he saw you? Please, Nagayoshi, you are not living in a fairy tale! Everything has to have a reason in this world!"

Nagayoshi gritted her teeth and clenched her fists tightly. Weakly, she turned to him. "If you hate him so much, why don't you just finish him already? I'm sick listening to your nonsense."

A devious grin crossed his face. "I will. I will take my revenge on him—after I make him suffer the way I suffered. See you on the next world, Naga-pyon!" Ryouken raised his claws and swished them straightaway.

A coffee-colored hand stopped the motion of the claws from perforating the stomach of the girl. "Not so fast." Kakuzu's unexpected appearance earned him two pairs of wide-eyed stare, most especially from his ex-partner. He pushed the clawed arm off and with his other arm, he gave a Ryouken a jet-powered left hook straight to the stomach. He put more energy than he needed to the punch, resulting on the dramatic hurl from Ryouken. Leaving the zombie to roll about on the ground, Kakuzu turned to his sister and helped her up. He winced to the damage the girl received—a black eye on the left, bleeding nose and mouth. There were more where that came from.

"Look at what he'd done to you." he muttered, helping his sister to stand. She lost balance for a moment and he kept her up.

Nagayoshi chuckled half-heartedly. "Well…I kinda talked too much, really. Tried to convince him, 'Niisan, but he won't listen." Nagayoshi said, spitting blood at the end of her sentence.

"Of course he won't." Kakuzu said, somewhat matter-of-factly, rolling his eyes a little.

"Kakuzu…" hissed Ryouken, now back on two feet. Kakuzu pushed Nagayoshi behind her immediately, especially when he saw the look in his eyes. More maniacal, angrier, and more vengeful. "Just exactly the person I wanted to see. Come on, let's finish our dance to the death."

"Ladies first." Kakuzu obliged, taking a fighting stance. He spoke briskly to his sister. "Get away from here. Now!"

Nagayoshi obeyed him and limply moved away from the upcoming battle scene. She still wanted to see their fight, so she watched from the corner of the tent. She observed her brother's opponent; she noticed the fur had covered his legs and toes. She looked up to the face; the fur didn't just cover the face, but transformed it drastically too. His nose and mouth elongated affront, his ears grew longer and pointier, and his teeth grew sharper like that of a dog.

Ryouken howled as his transformation finished. His legs pushed his body forward and he dashed towards the masked ninja on all fours. He lunged, opening his sharp-teethed mouth to bite Kakuzu's flesh. Kakuzu estimated the time and when it was right, he spun to the side a little and launched a kick right to the half-hound man's jaw. The werehyena tumbled around and quickly got up to all fours. He snarled at Kakuzu, saliva dripping from between his dagger teeth.

The werehyena didn't stop attacking; he kept slashing his tremendous claws and clamping his snout. Kakuzu stretched out his arms and tendrils zapped out of his stitched parts and coiled around Ryouken. With all of his raw power, he swerved the werehyena around and slung him as far away as possible, but the tent's thick fabric stopped Ryouken from being thrown yards away. Ryouken squirmed and snapped the black tendrils with his sharp teeth. He snarled and with a roar he charged at Kakuzu.

Kakuzu only did what was necessary, trying not to move too much. Ryouken's animal-form speed was much faster than the normal form. To outsmart the speed, he had to become slower but heavier. That was why he only needed his earth mask attached to his body. Moreover, Ryouken's human intelligence were replaced by pure killing instinct from the beast's side so he could not think of any other strategy and kept fighting like a dog. But even dogs learn something.

Kakuzu watched Ryouken as he circled around him snarling and barking in his animalistic form. He didn't put his guard down; if any, Kakuzu put his guard more up. He rarely witnessed Ryouken going into this state. He usually only used this form during the hardest battles. He never knew what this animal brain had learned and had no clue what he will do next.

Kakuzu suddenly was blown away by a circular, 1500 pound of wind force. He landed abrasively, making drag marks on the slightly damp soil. Nagayoshi jerked affront, shouting, "Oniisan!" but then a kunai hung dangerously close to her throat. Behind her was the youngest of Hanzo's children.

"Move and your life will fly to hell." Kama threatened darkly.

Nagayoshi glared back at Kama but obliged nonetheless. She returned her gaze to her brother who was now being approached by the werehyena. She bit her lip; Kakuzu's guard was down and she couldn't do anything to help him. For the mean time, she trusted her brother would find a way to get away from that situation.

Before Kakuzu could roll back to get up, one of his legs were held to the ground by a hand of large claws. He was about to kick the hand away, but his leg ended up inside Ryouken's mouth. His sharp teeth sank into his flesh and attempted to saw it off. Kakuzu bawled due to the immense pain. Fresh blood soaked his pants and his ninja boots before seeping through the seams of the cloth and to the ground.

"Oniisan!" shouted Nagayoshi frantically. She wanted to rush to her brother's side and help him but the kunai threatened to make a large cut right on her neck. Begrudgingly, she glared at Kama who mockingly moved his index finger from side to side. Sick of his treatment, Nagayoshi gripped the kunai, hurting her hand a little, and sent a large amount of electricity through the piece of sharpened metal.

Despite wearing gloves, Kama's fingers were exposed, hence enabling the electric current to shock his nerves. He yelped, jerking back and automatically flung his kunai off his hand. With so, Nagayoshi could run to help Kakuzu. Her palm glowed and a small-sized _Raihou_ was blasted to Ryouken's neck. It wasn't lethal enough to give a terrible damage to the werehyena, but its power was enough to push him away and even force-alter him into his normal state.

Kakuzu brought his bitten leg closer to his eyes and checked over the wound. Automatically, the black threads sewed the wounds together. Once the bite marks were covered, he tried to move his foot and it functioned perfectly. He saw his sister running towards him. She was about to call him when the same force that knocked him down hit her too.

Nagayoshi lifted her head up but it fell again to the ground, having a foot mercilessly put on top of her head. Kama glared at the girl and in his hand, he had a different kunai. "You little twit." he hissed and the kunai was coated by air chakra forming the kunai's shape and even make it longer. "You gonna pay for this, you little shit."

Kakuzu hurriedly got up to his feet in an attempt to block the chakra blade. He swayed losing his balance as momentary nausea attacked the center of his brain. The violent seizure from Kama to him earlier still had its after impacts on him. Kakuzu hushedly cursed it; it hindered him from acting more quickly.

The little heart of Nagayoshi was crying for survival, crying for miracle. Kama possessed her natural weakness: the air element. She knew that he would effortlessly repel her jutsus, knowing that she had no chance against him. She was aware of how bad Kakuzu's condition was. It may not be a severe injury, but an injury was still an injury. She could hear the wind murmured as the air chakra-coated blade was raised by its wielder. Who could save her now? Come to think of it, how many people should there be to keep her alive? Nagayoshi hated the fact that she could be so useless like this.

"YAAAARRRGH!" the blade wielder caterwauled at the same time as five lethal claws pierced through his liver and cut a hole to both of his lungs. Nagayoshi could see the blood splattering to the ground. Her eyes expanded in bafflement and questions. Kakuzu put the same expression as well; he didn't see that coming.

Kama turned his head around only to see Ryouken with two-colored eyes glaring at him disrespectfully. He hacked and more blood he secreted. "You…how—how could—" he weakly stammered.

"I'm done with you. From the beginning, my involvement with you was just my way to get my revenge on him and the Akatsuki. Do you really think I was going to kill them one by one all by myself?" Ryouken said coldly, slowly and painfully releasing his large claws off from Kama's abdomen. The third child of Hanzo began to lose his vision and his bones and muscles failed to sustain his body for a minute longer. Ryouken stepped aside and let the body fall, watching the life from his eyes dissipate with a look of contempt.

Kakuzu used _Shunshin No Jutsu_ to get to Nagayoshi's side in a blink of an eye. He did the same process to get away from Ryouken. His flickering movement caught the hyena's attention and the two former partners stared at each other. In between panted breaths, Kakuzu called, "Ryouken…"

"We're not finished." Ryouken grumbled, rancorous poison misted from his mouth. He gritted his teeth, baring his sharp canines.

"Wait, Ryouken, listen to me! There's a better way to settle this—"

"Oh, sure there is, old man!" Ryouken zapped towards him and Kakuzu reflexively guarded his face, congealing his body into stone as the claws slashed his skin. Ryouken roared and slashed harder against Kakuzu's stone-like skin that tiny embers sparkled from the friction.

Swiftly, Kakuzu grabbed one wrist and twisted it around Ryouken's back. He didn't care if he actually broke the arm; it was the least of his concerns. Apparently, Ryouken didn't care much for his arm either, since he twisted more and gashed Kakuzu with his other hand. That one hit Kakuzu on the upper right of his head. The claws ripped a little of his grayish-white headgear and cause some bleeding to his head. The hit made Kakuzu release his grip on his twisted arm. Ryouken swerved his good arm while Kakuzu was distracted by his earlier action. Kakuzu toppled aback by his punch and Ryouken mercilessly grappled his collar and punched him on the face.

Nagayoshi winced and had to throw away her face from the sight. She wanted to use _Takogesu Sanran _again to distract Ryouken, but Kakuzu raised a hand. He didn't want the hyena to get distracted, much to Nagayoshi's surprise. Kakuzu let himself be punched over and over again by his former partner. He wasn't sure how many punches he'd received already but he bet his whole savings that his face looked really terrible. Nevertheless, he stayed still as his clawed hands mashed his face. Until they stopped by themselves.

Kakuzu opened a half-battered eye to see why Ryouken had stopped. The Hyena Man was still grappling his collar menacingly, his eyes still bore the same hatred, but his punching hand was hanging low by his side. The teeth gritted tightly.

"Why don't you fight back?" Ryouken asked him. "Why do you submit?"

"I thought…you wanted to kill me…" Kakuzu spoke, a dribble of blood coursed from his mouth, soaking his black mask.

"I do! With all of my heart, I want to gouge your eyeballs out, rip your fucking hearts out and gnashed them into nothing! But why? Why do you stop fighting?" Ryouken asked bewilderedly.

"You have the right to get angry."

"That wasn't what I'm asking, you fucking moron!"

"Your brother…" Kakuzu spoke with heaving breaths, "…whispered me a message moments before he died. He told me…to keep it as a secret…from you. But…I guess…it's time to reveal the secret."

"Speak!"

Kakuzu coughed and began, "It was Yauji who sabotaged your last criminal act on Kumogakure."

Ryouken's eyes dilated drastically. His grip on Kakuzu's collar loosened before it tightened again one second later. "You're lying! That can't be true!"

"No, Ryouken. That is true. He whispered it to me himself. And he said more to me."

"I don't wanna hear it!" Ryouken growled and punched Kakuzu again.

"Yauji," Kakuzu forced himself to speak, despite that his jaws felt like it was going to loosen, "had never liked his career sexually abusing young girls with you. He never liked doing crime. He…he blamed himself for adoring you so much for so long. He regretted it…he regretted that he couldn't say no to you. That was why he sabotaged your attempt in raping one of the former Raikage's daughters by killing your other brother."

"SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Ryouken bawled and stood up, dropping Kakuzu from his clawed grip of death. He frantically closed his ears with his hands but unfortunately, he still could hear Kakuzu.

"He intended to end your life as soon as the both of you got out of Kumogakure, but Akatsuki ruined his plan. Yauji was insanely sick of you, Ryouken." Kakuzu continued to speak. He stood up with wobbly legs and nearly broken face.

"_YOU'RE LYING!"_ he roared. He madly dashed towards Kakuzu, his claws ready cut his head off. They stopped briskly; the tips of the claws were thinly below Kakuzu's chin. Angrily, he glared to the third person who stopped him. The third person happened to be two people: Nagayoshi and Zetsu. Nagayoshi held him by the front, pushing against his chest and stomach, while Zetsu held the killing set of claws.

"Kakuzu was telling the naked truth, Ryouken." Zetsu said nonchalantly. **"We got to see his last-minute memories too, so we can act as a witness. And to be frank, Ryouken, **you're the cause of Yauji's death. He chose to die to get away from you."

Ryouken glared to the half-plant man with disbelief then to Kakuzu who avoided seeing his eyes. Because everything he heard was true. He dropped to his knees, punching the earth with now normal hands. He gritted his teeth forlornly and he started to sob. Nagayoshi leaned against Kakuzu who encircled her shoulders with one arm, feeling sorry for the man who once tried to rape her. She could tell how much the maniac loved his little brother and to know that the latter caused the misery in his life was more than mere painful.

Truth truly does hurt.

"I'm sorry, Ryouken. Maybe if I told you this earlier, who knows, we never have to try to kill each other and you don't have to be Orochimaru's experiment." Kakuzu's bass voice broke the heartrending air around him.

Ryouken suddenly screamed from anguish. Anguish and upset. Tears couldn't represent his sadness; his zombie body granted him with no blood vessels and no tear glands. Nagayoshi closed her eyes; her feelings were torn apart as well, and so was Kakuzu. Zetsu just sympathetically stared at the sobbing man as he continued to punch the earth.

The earth quivered madly, startling the four people inside the tent. Kakuzu protectively tightened his arms around his sister. They all looked around to find the source of the quivering also wondering if it only affected the area inside the tent or if those fighting outside the tent could feel it too.

The ground jerked upward below Ryouken, before the man got to spot it. A gargantuan snake sprung from the earth, catching Ryouken in its snout. Its two fangs pierced through Ryouken's body, disabling the man from escaping. It took everybody by surprise, including Ryouken himself. The giant snake slithered out of the tent with the Hyena Man tightly held in its mouth. Immediately, Kakuzu, Nagayoshi, and Zetsu followed it. It led them out of the battlefield and to the end of the base camp where they met Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru! You son of a bitch! Let me down!" Ryouken swore and shouted at the former Akatsuki member. He activated his claws and tried to force the snake to release him. Unfortunately, the snake's scale was many times harder than his claws.

"Your work is also over, Ryouken. You're no longer needed. Now you can come back and meet your brother in hell." Orochimaru nonchalantly replied. He made a string of hand seals and put his hand on Ryouken's head.

The hyena stiffened and gradually fell unconscious. Not only that, he started to lose his color. His skin, hair, and eyes began to change color into that of ashes. Soon, as his toes lost its color, his head began to lose its structure. It crumbled away into dust, falling to the earth and creating small hills of human ash. Kakuzu, Nagayoshi, and Zetsu then witnessed what was inside of Ryouken's body all along. A boy—a teenage boy—whose body was eaten by Ryouken's ashes and now it was returned. However, the boy was no longer alive by the time Ryouken's ashes had all dropped from him. The snake jerked its head up and swallowed the dead boy whole, startling the three.

Orochimaru grinned at Kakuzu and Zetsu. "Ryouken's all yours now." he said coldly and jumped into the snake's mouth and emerged with the reptile. The snake then disappeared under the ground, leaving the three Akatsuki perplexed. Now all that was left of the infamous Hyena Man was his ashes.

* * *

**Oh god…the pain and the struggle. The fighting scene turned out not as good as I had in mind. It was supposed to be really epic but the lack of ability to describe meticulously and the lack of inspiration ruin it all! If it wasn't for the new Linkin Park album with its all new awesome tracks, I wouldn't be able to write them down and finish this chapter. I owe 'The Catalyst' my writing life.**

**And I really can't think of any other way to kill Ryouken! [cries] Now I really understand Kishimoto's suffer in making his awesome creation cool and fresh. I owe him my writing life too. So THAT'S the end of the 'Civil War Arc' or 'Akatsuki vs. Salamander Army Arc'. I hope you enjoy it.**

**Oh, by the way, the next chapter will be the end of 'Bird Cloth'. But—ah! It's NOT the end of Nagayoshi's saga! I just want to split the tale because, really, 40 chapters (prologue included) are too much for one fanfiction. Don't worry; when the second part of the saga starts, Deidara will be introduced. That is a promise. The title for the second part is still in consideration. I'll tell you in the next chapter.**

_Next: The war is over. Akatsuki wins. Nagayoshi returns. But joy isn't going through just yet. The last of 'Bird Cloth'._


	40. Azuwato

**Chapter 39: Azuwato**

* * *

A man howled in pain before suffering spasms due to the poison Hiruko's tail was giving him. Before long, the man's twitching stopped and he was put to rest forever. Sasori hummed approvingly. "That's the last of it." he said, turning around to look at two crosses with a man and a woman crucified to it. They were both dead—Hamaki and Mizuka.

"Good job, men." Chikushodo said, nodding gratifyingly at his comrades. He then turned to the youngest in their division. "Itachi, how are you?"

Itachi nodded, wiping the black blood from his cheek with one hand. "I'm fine. I'm just a little exhausted from using Amaterasu." he answered the substitute body of the leader.

The long-haired Pain nodded and turned to the corpse of his enemies again. It was Kisame's turn to speak to Itachi. "Man, aren't you reckless. I've seen Mangekyo Sharingan in action before and the last time you used Amaterasu, it screwed your body. I don't know what the after effects will do to you now."

"I was more prepared, Kisame. Look at the bright side." Itachi looked up to his tall blue partner. To Itachi's surprise, his vision started to blur a little for a moment before it returned to its normal state. He winced a little to the sudden shock of headache tapping on his head.

Kisame blinked; he knew there should be more coming from Itachi, but the Uchiha suddenly stopped his words. Kisame slanted his eyes, half-wary, "What bright side?"

Realizing he was still talking to Kisame, Itachi blinked quickly and continued, "I saved the all of you a lot of energy by sacrificing mine. It's worth it." Itachi stood up and decided to go back inside the base to take a proper rest. The world suddenly blurred again and Itachi's legs lost its strength for some reason. If it wasn't for Kisame's strong arms, he would have his face kissed the good earth.

"Well, all sacrifices have drawbacks. C'mon, let me help you. And I don't take a 'no' for an answer." Kisame said, putting Itachi's arm around his shoulders and took his partner back into the base. Itachi could have refused, but he was too tired to do so and Kisame was stubborn when it concerns his weak condition.

Sasori stared at the partners passed by him and turned to the taller body of Pain. "Aren't we going to tell the others that we're done here?" the puppet master asked.

"They know already. And they're almost finish too." answered Shurado. If Sasori still had his human nerves, he would have shivered hearing the way Shurado talked plus seeing his ever-grinning face. He thought this body of Pain was creepy. He still preferred talking to the usual Pain. Nevertheless, Sasori noticed something weird from his answers.

"How do you know?" Sasori asked.

Shurado pointed at his eyes. No words spoken. His grinning face and the wide-opened Rinnegan still send inexistent shivers to Sasori's spine. And Sasori could thank the gods that there was no more enemies so he could get away as far as possible from the scary Pain.

**|-oOo-|**

"_Shinra Tensei." _Pain muttered softly as a man with a pair of twin blades tried to attack him. The man propelled off and plunged abrasively to the ground among a distribution of dead and half-dead shinobis of Salamander army. He looked to his right-hand woman who was valiantly fighting a group of ninjas by constricting and suffocating them in a cocoon of thick papers. He then spoke, "They're done."

Konan turned to the leader, eyes filled with question.

Pain understood the look in her eyes and elaborated. "Chikushodo and Shurado are done. Itachi used his ultimate jutsu. They won."

Konan sighed silently and Pain could spot the relief in her face. They then diverted their eyes to the gargantuan half-man horse affiliation of Hokko. So far, Moyasuke had been a great help aside from Kakuzu's masks. Pain suddenly thought the cowboy should've stayed at the base. Then again, Hokko was like Kakuzu's tail—always there wherever he went. Pain assumed it was also because Nagayoshi was involved in a distressing way that he chose to come and invade the Salamander Army's base camp.

"Hokko-san!" called a childish voice from a distance. The cowboy ninja knew that voice everywhere and so did the leader and the co-leader.

Hokko beamed at the view. "Nagayoshi-chan! I see you're—whoa!" he gaped all of a sudden. Moyasuke looked quite surprised too; not to Hokko's reaction, but to the cause of the reaction. Both Kakuzu and Nagayoshi looked like they could use a lot of face repair. Nagayoshi's left eye was blackened and a thick path of blood trickled from her nose down to her neck due to being tossed around by Ryouken. Kakuzu was even worse, but the damage was covered by his half-destroyed mask. He pointed in shock at the siblings, "What the hell happened?"

"Ugh…we got battered. End of story." Kakuzu answered lazily as he sat on a rock nearby.

"Oniisan, open your mask. You were hurt pretty badly. That Ryouken surely vent a lot of his anger to you, huh?" Nagayoshi said. She carefully pulled down Kakuzu's blood-soaked mask. At the sight of bloody mouth, cheeks, and chin, Nagayoshi and Hokko gasped. "Holy mother…"

Kakuzu frowned, knowing what might cause the two's expressive reaction. "I must've looked pretty ugly, don't I?" he bitterly asked.

"Will you kill us if we answer?" Hokko asked back.

"I might, but I'm fucking way too tired now." Kakuzu sighed exhaustedly. He put his head on one hand, groaning to relieve the stress that was within him. His eyesight was then dominated by an orange handle of Hokko's whip. He looked at it questioningly before giving the same look to his partner.

"Hold it." Hokko said simply.

Kakuzu would like to ask the purpose of holding the handle but he took it anyways. He looked to Hokko who turned to his colossal horse-man friend.

"Oi! Moyasuke!" he called. The light brown-coated horse looked down to him. "Is that man or woman in your hand still breathin'? I'm gonna need the remaining breaths for my partner here!"

Moyasuke observed the ninja in his large hand and put it down next to Hokko gently. "She still breathes, but not much. Probably she'll die soon."

"That's exactly what I need. Thanks a lot, man." Hokko saluted his giant friend. "Oh, can you find more? I don't think one dying person is enough." Hokko added as he twisted the end of the orange whip around the dying kunoichi's arm. He nodded his thanks as Moyasuke strode in search of a barely-living body. Kakuzu had relaxed a bit as he realized what his partner was about to do. His sister, however, was still clueless.

"_Nenrei Tensou Mimizu: Moteiku!" _ Hokko exclaimed after making a short single-handed hand seal. He left a certain amount of chakra on the whip's lash, letting it expand on its own to take away the kunoichi's life span, and gave it to Kakuzu.

Kakuzu grunted and winced in pain, as the result that showed that Hokko's whip was working properly. Soon a few crackles were heard and Kakuzu shouted. While Nagayoshi freaked out from his reaction, Hokko laughed bitterly. Not long after, the chakra coating on the whip died out by itself. Kakuzu unhanded the handle and gave it back to its owner. "Damn…that hurt…" he groaned, rubbing his bloody chin and wiped the blood clean from his face.

"I'm surprised! He broke quite a lot of bone. I think most of them came from your jaws." Hokko remarked as he twisted the end of the whip to a new dying Salamander Army shinobi.

"No kidding."

Hokko shoved the whip's handle to the girl. While he smiled softly, Nagayoshi stared at it skeptically. A push on her back by her brother made her hold it nonetheless. She gave a frightened gaze to Kakuzu. She was afraid she would feel the same pain. Kakuzu just nodded, encouraging that she had better off take the offer.

Seeing that Nagayoshi was ready, despite the constant gulping, Hokko repeated the same jutsu. Nagayoshi felt like there were worms wriggling beneath her skin as the life span were being transferred to her. It felt soothing and warm—until they reached her swollen black eye.

"OOOWW!" Nagayoshi howled so loudly that Kakuzu jerked backward protecting his eardrums. Hokko did the same and patted the girl's back comfortingly. Since her wounds were not as much as Kakuzu's, the process ran faster. After that, it was just her whimpering and whining. "Uh…it hurt so much. It felt like someone was poking on my black eye with a sword."

Kakuzu grunted and rolled his eyes. "Here's my little whiny Nagayoshi…" he muttered, ruffling the hair of his sister. As if a cure to her bad habit, Nagayoshi started giggling at his treatment. He stood up afterwards and walked away from Nagayoshi, Hokko, and Moyasuke. His three masks approached him as if Kakuzu had called them through telepathy. Kakuzu opened his red-clouded cloak again and let them reunite with his back. Pain and Konan appeared not long after that.

"Whoa…!" Nagayoshi gasped in awe. "Even Konan-san and Pain-sama come too?

Konan smiled kindly. "Even though you're not a member, you're still a part of us." she said.

"Thank you, Konan-san." she replied shyly, a slight blush appeared on her cheeks. She then looked over to Pain, whose face was as indifferent as ever.

"Are you alright, Nagayoshi?" he asked. His deep voice droned in the silence of what was once a battlefield.

Even after a few years, Nagayoshi still couldn't read his face. Somehow, Itachi was easier to read than this stoic leader. Moreover, Pain never seemed to consider her as a human. She never tried to impress the leader, but it depressed her sometimes that Pain always gave a look as if she was an unneeded pest in the organization. That thought caused her to reply, "Yes, I'm fine. And, uh, I'm sorry."

"It wasn't anybody's mistake. You were ambushed." Pain answered, his voice nonchalant as always but his intentions were far from being cold at the girl. In fact, Pain never really gave much of a thought on subordinates as long as they behave well in front of him. If they make a mistake, they need to be scolded. Nagayoshi just haven't done any mistake that made him sick of her; that was why she could still live in his lair.

Glad that she was spared, Nagayoshi bowed before him to show him that she truly respected him. "Thank you."

"If we're done, we better go back to the base. The others must have been waiting for our return." Pain said, turning around. Konan followed closely.

"I guess I have to go home too. See you later, Hokko." Moyasuke nodded to the cowboy ninja who waved at him as he vanished in a large puff of smoke.

Nagayoshi walked after the others too with a relieved smile on her face. She was glad the war was over. Now she didn't have to worry about going from base camp to base camp anymore. She knew her brother will continue the life as a mercenary again. She liked that life better. Though it didn't guarantee the lesser amount of injuries, but at least it wasn't as pressuring. She caught up with her brother who waited for her as he walked and she held his arm.

**|-oOo-|**

Nagayoshi had no time to greet her friends as soon as she returned to Akatsuki's base. Kakuzu explained to her that they all were extremely exhausted because of the big fight they had with the Salamander Army. He urged her to change her clothes and go to bed. He also told her that she could greet and reunite with her friends later in the morning. Nagayoshi nodded understandingly and obeyed her brother. It was obvious that Kakuzu was exhausted too.

By the time Nagayoshi had shut her eyes and drifted peacefully in the kingdom of dreams, Kakuzu was just about to climb his bed. However, as soon as he stood beside his bed, he stopped and just stood staring at his sister. A mélange of emotions massed together inside him. He was glad that she returned safely; he was afraid of what Ryouken could have done to her before he came; he was worried if she suffered from a trauma; he couldn't imagine the great sadness that will wash over her heart when she found out that Erai was dead minutes after she was kidnapped.

He brought himself to his bed, sinking his legs under the warm blanket he use only during winter. Before he lied down, he once again stared at his sister. She didn't look like she was holding any trouble or trauma from earlier fight against Ryouken. Maybe he didn't get to deflower her. The thought relieved Kakuzu a little, but not all. Gently, he ran his hand over her head. He leaned down and the tip of his nose touched her forehead. He sighed and whispered…

"Be strong, Imouto-chan…"

The morning lasted shorter than Kakuzu had expected. He didn't feel like sleeping much while in fact, he really had a good one, thanks to the exhaustion. And for once, he stayed on one place, not rolling around and suffocating his sister under his weight like usual. He woke up a little later than he normally did, however. Outside, the sun was shining and snow provided the glisten the morning needed to make it more beautiful. It was as if the sun congratulated the Akatsuki for their success in defeating the Salamander Army. The sunlight gave strange warmth inside him and the silence was bliss to him.

He looked to the side and his sister was still snuggled up under the warm blanket. Soft snores reverberated from her throat. Tiredness, cold air, and thick blanket made a good combination of sleeping drugs. He let himself smile a little. So yesterday's struggle wasn't a dream after all. Then his smile dropped.

_So did the little man's death, _he thought.

Kakuzu slid out of the covers, shivering a little from the nearly minus temperature. He grabbed his warm clothes and put them on then headed up to the kitchen for a nice cup of hot coffee. As he arrived on the kitchen, it was hauntingly silent. There were no traces of anyone had made breakfast before him. Konan should had been up a couple of hours ago, but he found no signs that she had taken several bread, cheese, and smoked beef from the refrigerator.

_Looks like everyone's still asleep… _Kakuzu whispered in his mind. But he knew there was always one who never slept. After making his cup of coffee, he tried to search the living room—the least used room in the base. There, lying lazily on the light green synthetic leather couch was Sasori, without Hiruko, trying to amuse himself by reading an interior design magazine from ten years ago. He smelled the aroma of coffee and his maroon eyes met Kakuzu's jade ones.

"One sleeping princess is up. Finally." he said, boredom lingered in the way he talked.

"You mean…Konan hasn't?" Kakuzu asked.

"Nope. I was the only one up all night. Yesterday's epilogue battle must have worn everybody out—except me." Sasori flicked the magazine to the coffee table and sat properly on the couch. "So how's your sister?" he asked watching as Kakuzu decided to take a seat beside him.

"She's fine. Looks like Ryouken haven't got to do anything to her before I got there." Kakuzu answered, feeling the coffee's heat transferred through the mug. He carefully sipped the dark brown liquid. The two men sat silently for a couple of minutes before Kakuzu broke it. "So after this, are you going to find a new partner?"

"I like going solo. No one is going to keep me waiting if I'm on my own." Sasori replied. "But then regulations are regulations. Eventually, he'll pick me a partner, told me and someone else to come and pick up my new partner—unless that partner of mine had been invited in advance, which is unlikely."

"I wasn't told to go with another member while picking up my partner. My travelling companion was my sister, my agent and her dog."

"My subordinate betrayed me, remember?" Sasori replied bitterly.

"Right…"

Hours passed and slowly the Akatsuki appeared one by one in the kitchen to have their nutrition supply to start the day. Surprisingly, Konan was not the second to come up. Kisame, who was usually as early even sometimes earlier than Kakuzu, came up last. He greeted everyone he met and had his breakfast. When Kakuzu went back to the kitchen to grab another hot drink for himself, Kisame quickly asked, "Hey, where's Nagayoshi?"

"Still in bed. She sleeps like a rock. Maybe because I didn't squish her last night." Kakuzu replied.

Kisame chuckled at his answer. "Did you use that iconic earth jutsu of yours while you're asleep?"

Kakuzu smirked. "Probably."

Kisame laughed more, adding more colorful sound to the once silent morning. "Ah, it's good to see you with sense of humor once in a while, Kakuzu."

A few minutes later, the only subordinate in the base got up and entered the kitchen and dining room. "Morning, everyone!" she chirped. Not many returned her greeting with the same spirit as she, but she didn't mind. Akatsuki had always been like that. She opened the refrigerator and grabbed a green apple. She sat across Kisame and chomped the fruit.

"You only going to eat that?" Kisame asked. "That's not a lot for breakfast."

"Nah, I wanna save my stomach for today's lunch. I plan to have a big one." Nagayoshi answered lightheartedly.

Since it was a small apple and Nagayoshi was probably the fastest apple-eater in the world, it only took several minutes for her to finish the fruit. After that, she consumed a glass of chocolate milk and it was then she realized someone was missing. "Um…where's Erai?"

Kisame froze while holding up his breakfast to his mouth. Kakuzu stopped sipping his second warm drink. Sasori quickly dismissed himself into the living room and reread the ten-year-old magazine. Itachi pretended to ignore her and continued eating. The blue swordsman put down his food and lingered in his seat soundlessly. His usual friendly air diminished and replaced by a gloomier aura. Kakuzu looked away, not knowing what to say and tried to find a good way to say it. Before he made up his mind, Nagayoshi spoke again.

"Oh! Maybe he's still asleep!" she said and darted to the dwarf's room immediately.

Kakuzu whisked his head and the figure of his sister had already gone back to the hall of rooms. He grimaced and followed her.

Nagayoshi planned to hop on Erai when she arrived in his room. She won't give a damn if the guy was still asleep. She wanted to give him a big hug. One part of her wanted to plant a big kiss on him. She grinned all by herself upon imagining the blush Erai would emanate from his face.

She headed to the room across Hokko's room. With such gusto, she opened the door, ready to shout her morning greetings and…stop. Perplexity covered her entire head upon seeing his room empty. Yet the covers were still improperly folded. Erai's shoes were nowhere to be seen. She scratched her head and one eyebrow pressed on her eye. "Where did he go?"

Nagayoshi heard shuffling of feet behind her. It was too heavy to be Erai's so she knew it wasn't him. A large warm hand was placed on her shoulder and she turned around to see her brother. His face didn't look too happy, but too gloomy for his standards either.

"Come with me." Kakuzu muttered and walked off. Nagayoshi had no idea what was going on but she followed her brother anyways.

**|-oOo-|**

No words could escape from her mouth upon seeing a big stone as high as her shin with the name of the short, baby-faced man carved on it. It was placed beside someone else's grave—of a person named Azuwato. Nagayoshi knelt before the stone with Erai's name on it and caressed its rocky feature. She spotted another line of writing beneath the name.

_A small being in a big world making a great sacrifice._

Her mouth opened and closed in a war of lining words waiting to be spoken out. She didn't know where to start and the first thing came to her mind was: "How?"

Kakuzu sighed heavily. He knew he had to explain everything to her eventually, and it was the time. "Erai…died when he battled single-handedly against Ryouken. He was about to rescue you from being kidnapped, but he was outmatched. I saw his last minutes of living from Zetsu's recording. Nagayoshi…" Kakuzu paused; he wasn't sure if he should say this. "…I'm sorry, I saw it. Even without looking at the record, I've always knew that…Erai was madly in love with you."

Kakuzu stopped for a second. He checked over his sister's condition. She was still kneeling and facing the tombstone. He thought he had better continue, but this time, he tried to divert the topic a little. "I buried him beside Azuwato, my partner before Yauji, Ryouken, and Hokko. So far, he was the only partner who died in someone else's hand. And so far, he was the only one who I hardly had an argument, big or small, with. Erai thought of him as his father he never had, and Azuwato treated him like his own son. When Azuwato died, he asked me to raise Erai and watch over him. Erai is like…my own nephew." Kakuzu sighed again. His tanned fingers ran through his long dark locks. "His death is a big loss to me as it is to you, Nagayoshi."

Nagayoshi spoke nothing even after Kakuzu had stopped and knelt beside her. Grievingly, Kakuzu stared at Erai's tombstone and to his sister. He grimaced painfully.

One droplet of water fell; its salty content melted the small crumbs of ice that formed the snow. Another droplet came falling down. Then another. And another. And more dribbled all at once.

Even in her grief, she still remembered the ninja's etiquette to never cry. She hurriedly wiped her tears with the sleeves of her sweater. However, those tears refused to stop and she couldn't stop herself. In between her sobs, she tried to say something but couldn't. As she struggled, a pair of long and muscular arms circled around her body. A hand patted her thick, short, black hair and pulled her head to lean against Kakuzu's broad chest. He let her soak him with her tears and her hands to scrunch at his clothes. He understood her feelings—anybody sane would. Nobody could stand the loss of someone they just knew they had special feelings for.

All Kakuzu needed to do was to be someone who will always be there when she needed some comfort.

**|-oOo-|**

* * *

**Aaaand it's a wrap! For this fic, at least. I had to cut it right here because I feel that 40 chapters are too much. Rest assured, the story still continues but in a different fic! But first of all, I want to thank all readers, reviewers, and followers. Although I'd still keep writing even with almost no one reading, having you guys around and sympathize with the characters brighten the mood. :'D**

**Please enjoy the continuation of this story and don't forget your feedback! You may criticize me as harsh as you want. It could be just exactly what I need!**

**THE JOURNEY CONTINUES: _Flight of the Hummingbird.  
_(Open my profile and you'll find it there!)**


End file.
